


Tell Me A Story

by Raziel12



Category: Final Fantasy XIII
Genre: F/F, Family, Fluff, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-02
Updated: 2014-01-17
Packaged: 2017-11-20 02:31:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 27,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/580309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raziel12/pseuds/Raziel12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bed time rolls around at the Farron-Yun residence and Fang finds herself having to tell a story to three inquisitive children. Her story of choice? Eclair and the Beast.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Eclaire And The Beast

Éclair and the Beast

 

Fang looked down at the mess in the microwave and grimaced. It wasn’t that she couldn’t cook – she was a survivor if nothing else – but even after years of practice, she still hadn’t gotten completely used to the technology that the former inhabitants of Cocoon seemed to love so much. Well, at least she still had a few hours before Lightning got back. The other woman might not be as good a cook as Serah, but she was no slouch in the kitchen, and Lightning was just as uptight about keeping the kitchen tidy as she was about keeping everything else tidy.

“Mommy, what’s taking so long? Did you burn the popcorn again?”

With one last grimace, Fang took the blackened remains of the popcorn from the microwave and dumped the whole mess into the rubbish bin. The scorch marks on the inside of the microwave would just have to wait till later. As she ambled back into the living room, Fang felt a grin slip onto her face. Her two kids were there on the couch, curled up under a big, fluffy blanket, along with Serah’s daughter. Damn, they were just about perfect, weren’t they? But then again, considering who their parents were, maybe that wasn’t such a surprise.

“What did you just say, young lady?” Fang asked, moving over to the couch and raising one eyebrow at her elder daughter, Averia, before she reached down and poked her on the nose. The girl had Lightning’s hair and complexion, but her eyes were all Fang’s. “Well, care to repeat what you were saying?”

“Mommy!” Averia growled. “Stop poking me!”

Fang chuckled evilly. “Why should I? I think it’s pretty funny, especially since you were making fun of me for burning the popcorn.” Just for fun, she poked Averia again and the girl, all of eight years old, scowled in a very Lightning-like manner and tried to grab at her fingers.

“But you always burn stuff in the microwave.” Averia folded her arms over her chest. “And Aunt Vanille always laughs at you and you never poke her.” She narrowed her eyes. “And what about mom? Whenever you burn stuff in the microwave you always end up having to say sorry a lot.” She paused. “But I think Aunt Vanille called it ‘grovelling’ or something.” She ignored the twitch in Fang’s eye. “So, I don’t see why you have to poke me.”

“I see.” Fang couldn’t really fault her daughter’s logic. Still, she’d have to have a word or two with Vanille later, maybe strangle her a bit. Oerba Yun Fang absolutely did not grovel to anyone, not even to Lightning. She just happened to enjoy sleeping in her bed, with her wife, instead of on their couch. “Anyway, what are you three watching?”

“We were watching something about you and the others, Aunt Fang.” The words came from Serah’s daughter, Claire, and Fang smiled softly as she took in the way that Claire had snuggled right up to Averia. The pair looked just like Serah and Lightning. The only real difference was that rather than the carefully hidden look of tenderness that Lightning always had when she looked at Serah, Averia just looked sleepy. 

“That so?” Fang looked at the television more closely. Looking past Averia, Fang turned her attention to the smallest of the trio on the couch. Her younger daughter little Diana was only five years old and for Fang, looking at her was almost like looking at a younger version of herself, only with blue eyes. However, unlike Claire and Averia, Diana wasn’t really watching the television. Instead, she was slowly, but steadily hoarding more and more of the blanket for herself. Yep, she definitely took after Lightning in that respect.

Unfortunately, Fang’s contentment at being with her two children and her niece lasted only as long as it took for the commercial break to end, because once it did, she saw exactly what Claire had meant about the show being about her and the others. The show was actually a movie about the whole fal’Cie fiasco that had culminated in the downfall of Cocoon and the move to Gran Pulse. That alone wouldn’t have been too bad, because Fang could understand how people might want to make a movie about something so important. No, the problem was with the cast of the movie.

For starters, they could have tried a little harder to actually pick actors who looked like them. Fang knew her memory wasn’t perfect, but the last she remembered she did not resemble a man in drag. They’d also taken great liberties with the others. The actor they’d chosen for Snow wasn’t nearly tall enough, or brawny enough, whereas the actor they’d chosen for Hope was a good deal taller than he should be. And Lightning… Not only hadn’t they bothered to try and get the right shade of pink for her hair, but the actress’s breasts were entirely too big. Not that there was anything wrong with big breasts – Fang’s own weren’t exactly small – but she could personally attest to the fact that Lightning’s breasts were absolutely fine just the way they were, better than fine, actually. Still, Vanille and Sazh had probably gotten it the worst. The actor playing Sazh had to be pushing seventy and Vanille looked, and sounded, like a twelve year old girl.

“Okay,” Fang said as she took the remote for the television and switched the horrid thing off, “It’s getting late, so it’s about time for all of you to head off to bed.”

“But we were watching that!” Averia complained as she squirmed around and tried to snatch the control back.

Fang lifted the remote out of reach. “That thing you were watching didn’t get a single thing right,” she said. “Besides, it is getting late, so do you want to head up to bed now, or would you rather explain to your mom why you stayed up past your bed time?”

That got the required response, as Averia turned very, very pale. Fang smirked. To the kids, Lightning was like a cross between Etro and the boogieman. Behave, and all kinds of good things were likely to happen like trips to the park, sleepovers with Claire, and even the occasional cake. Misbehave, however, and less pleasant things were likely to happen, things like helping with the chores and lots of vegetables for dinner. Naturally, Fang chose to ignore the fact that she was every bit as susceptible to reinforcement and punishment as the kids, although her reinforcements and punishments were a little, ahem, more adult in nature. Still, Fang’s moment of triumph didn’t last long, because hardly a moment had passed before she felt a gentle tug on her sari.

“Can we please stay up?” Diana whispered as her big blue eyes, so like Lightning’s, shimmered. “Please?”

“Gah!” Fang quickly looked away. She’d never, ever been able to handle that look. She was just lucky that Lightning had way too much dignity to ever try the old ‘puppy dog eyes’ on her, because if she did, she’d never lose an argument. Diana, on the other hand, was only five years old and she had no qualms at all about using them. It didn’t help either that both Averia and Claire had long since worked out Fang’s weakness and were forever getting the younger girl to do their dirty work.

Holding one hand over her face to shield herself from ‘the look’, Fang shook her head. “Okay, get that look off your face, Diana, it’s not working this time. Now, all of you, up.” She made the mistake of looking into Diana’s watery blue eyes and winced. “I suppose, I could tell you all a story or something… it’d be better than letting you watch that rubbish movie that you were looking at earlier.”

“Yay!” Diana cheered before she untangled herself from the blanket and latched onto Fang. “Can you carry me up to bed?”

Fang laughed and patted Diana on the head. This sort of behaviour was undoubtedly the product of having two extremely doting parents, a very overprotective sister, and a cousin who might look a lot like Serah but took to fisticuffs like Snow. Diana was spoiled rotten and even though Fang knew they shouldn’t indulge her too much, she just didn’t have the heart to say no to her. Saying no was more Lightning’s thing and although Fang sometimes felt a bit bad at always letting Lightning be the tough one, Fang just couldn’t get over the fact that the two of them had kids, two perfect, beautiful, unbelievably wonderful kids. She just wanted to give them the best of everything, to make them as happy as she possibly could. “Okay, kiddo,” Fang said as she slung Diana over her shoulder like a bag of rice. “Up you get.” She grinned down at Claire and Averia. “You two can walk though.”

“Wait!” Diana shouted before Fang could take a single step. “You forgot Mr Snaggles!”

“Did I?” Fang bent awkwardly, somehow keeping a decent hold on Diana as she reached for the Bahamut plush toy on the couch. Holding it up, she couldn’t help but smile as she remembered just how Mr Snaggles had come about.

After the downfall of Cocoon, the former l’Cie had kept most of their powers, including the ability to summon their Eidolons. However, summoning Bahamut wasn’t something that Fang took lightly. A giant mechanical dragon thingy tended to draw a little too much attention, not to mention, terrify almost everybody. Still, Bahamut did come in handy when the local wildlife got a little too much for the local branch of Guardian Corps to handle. 

On one occasion a whole herd of Behemoth Kings had wandered into town and although Fang wouldn’t normally have hesitated too much before jumping into the fray, Averia had been with her. Fang hadn’t even had to think twice before calling Bahamut. When it came to her family, she was not going to take any chances. The battle that had followed had been short, bloody, and oddly brutal, as Bahamut had torn into the Behemoth Kings with a ferocity that seemed to mirror the protective fury in Fang’s heart.

When everything was over, Fang had been stunned to see that rather than being scared, Averia looked entranced. Before Fang could stop her, the little girl had stumbled over to Bahamut and begun to clamber up onto his shoulders. Thankfully, the dragon had taken the whole thing very well, and Fang had darted after her daughter and yanked her off, but not before scolding her in a panicked mix of fright and relief to never, ever jump onto her Eidolon again without asking first.

Lightning, of course, had been absolutely furious, especially when Averia had very loudly demanded that she be able to summon a dragon to stomp on people she didn’t like. It didn’t take a genius to see that letting a little girl summon an Eidolon would probably be a very, very bad idea, especially a little girl who got into more than her fair share of schoolyard scraps. Pulling someone’s hair was one thing, summoning a dragon quite another. Still, Averia had thrown a tremendous tantrum and then sulked for days when Fang and Lightning had told her that no, she wouldn’t be getting her own Eidolon. Things had only improved when Vanille, Etro bless her soul, had turned up one morning with a plush toy that looked just like Bahamut. That seemed to appease Averia and as a plush toy, it was considerably less dangerous than the real thing. Of course, Snow had ruined the moment by turning up not ten minutes later with an incredibly realistic plush toy of the Shiva sisters in their gestalt form. Lightning had been forced to explain, with her fists, why she didn’t think his plush toy was age appropriate. Naturally, Fang thought it looked wonderful, but she’d been smart enough to keep that opinion to herself.

In any case, Averia had carried the Bahamut plush toy, nicknamed Mr Snaggles, around with her for years. It was only after Diana was born and wanted a plush toy of her own that Averia had given Mr Snaggles up. Just like Lightning, Averia had a hard time saying no to her little sister, and when Diana had shown an interest in Mr Snaggles, Averia had been okay with giving it to her, especially since she was ‘a big girl now’. 

Shaking her head slightly to break herself out of the memories, Fang handed Mr Snaggles to Diana. “Okay, we’ve got Mr Snaggles, now let’s get you lot into bed.”

Upstairs in the girls’ bedroom, Fang tucked each of the girls in, and after a not so quiet word from Diana, she also tucked in Mr Snaggles, the plush Bahamut looking oddly serious as she settled him into place beside Diana. Fang’s two daughters were sleeping in their own beds, while Claire was sleeping in the spare bed that Fang and Lightning often kept around due to how often Claire spent the night over. This time, Claire was over because Snow and Serah were taking a romantic weekend away, which meant it was up to Fang to watch the kids, at least until Lightning finished her shift with the Guardian Corps.

Once everyone was safely tucked in, Fang pulled a chair over and took a seat. “I said I’d tell you lot a story, didn’t I?”

“I’m too old for stories now,” Averia said proudly.

Claire nodded seriously. “Me too.”

Fang smiled. She could remember when she’d been just like them, trying to grow up as fast as she could. “Is that so?” She pursed her lips and pretended to think very hard. “Because I seemed to remember some people listening pretty closely the last time I told a story, isn’t that right, Diana?”

Diana nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, Claire and Averia were both crying a bit the last time.” She looked over at Mr Snaggles and patted the plush Bahamut on the head. “But we didn’t, did we, Mr Snaggles?” She giggled. “That means I must be more grown up than them.”

“Hey,” Averia said. “I was not crying. I just got something in my eye. Anyway, it was a sad story, so even if I did cry, it would’ve been okay.”

“Well, it was a little sad in the middle, but I gave it a happy ending, didn’t I?” Fang said.

“I suppose.” Averia scowled at Diana who just smiled back happily. “Are you going to tell us another sad story?”

“Maybe,” Fang said. “But a lot of really good stories do have sad parts, so there’s nothing wrong with there being a little sadness in the middle.”

“I think your stories are okay,” Claire admitted softly. “Well, they’re better than my daddy’s.” 

“No arguments there,” Fang muttered. She’d heard from Serah exactly what kind of stories the blonde told and although there was no faulting Snow’s enthusiasm when it came to storytelling, he was probably better off sticking to storybooks. The stories he made up tended to be a little over the top. Even little kids had a hard time believing Snow’s epic tale of the brave and noble hero who had not only rescued his beloved but also defeated something close to a thousand – the number rose with each telling – fal’Cie singlehandedly. “So, why don’t we get started?”

Diana grinned. “Okay.” Beside her, Mr Snaggles bobbed his head up and down in agreement.

Fang took a moment to gather her thoughts. Contradictory to common belief, she didn’t just make things up entirely from scratch. After all, she had a whole stack of Oerban legends to draw upon. She also had a knack for improvising – although Lightning often used a far less complimentary term that involved bovines defecating – which meant that she often took a legend or story she’d heard before and tweaked it into something she liked better. As she looked at the girls in front of her, two of them hers and Lightning’s, the other Snow and Serah’s, a slow smile spread across her face. The three of them were like sisters and she knew, deep down inside, that no matter what the years brought, they’d look after each other. Yes, she had just the story.

“My story is about two sister who lived on Gran Pulse –” Fang began before she was interrupted.

“Your stories are always on Gran Pulse,” Averia grumbled.

But before Fang could say a word, someone else decided to straighten Averia out.

“Don’t say things like that!” Diana wailed, somehow squirming out from under her covers and throwing herself onto her sister’s bed. Once there she proceeded to whack the older girl over the head with Mr Snaggles. 

Fang bit back a chuckle as Claire entered the fray, joining Diana on Averia’s bed and trying to pull the little girl off, but with very little success. Diana was cute most of the time, but she could be pretty difficult to deal with if she got annoyed enough. The fact that Averia couldn’t even really bring herself to fight back against her little sister just made things more humorous. Eventually, the trio settled down, and Fang coughed to get their attention back.

“Well, that’s about enough out of you three,” Fang said. “Now quieten down while I tell the story, otherwise I’ll get the real Mr Snaggles over here to sort you three out.” She grinned. “And he’ll probably be hungry too.”

Needless to say, all three children immediately quietened down.

“Now,” Fang said as Diana brandished Mr Snaggles at the other two girls and whispered something about horrible, dragon-based death, “As I was saying, my story is about two sisters who lived many, many years ago on Gran Pulse. The two sisters were named Serra and Éclair and they lived all on their own.”

“Why were they all alone?” Diana asked, big blue eyes wide. “Where were their parents?”

Fang smiled faintly. These kinds of interruptions she didn’t mind. In fact, she almost expected them. Back in Oerba, telling stories had been almost like a ritual, with the storyteller leaving specific gaps and pauses for the listeners to ask questions. It didn’t even matter if the listeners had heard the story before, asking questions was just another way to connect to the story, to connect to the storyteller.

“Well, the reason that Serra and Éclair lived all alone was because when they were younger, their parents became very sick. Although they asked many doctors for help, none of the doctors could cure them and so Serra and Éclair’s parents passed away,” Fang paused. “Éclair, being the elder sister, had no choice but to look after her younger sister.”

“That’s so sad,” Diana said. She looked at Averia and Claire. “That’s sad, isn’t it?”

“I guess,” Averia said, huffing slightly, but Fang could see that she was sad, as well. Claire, who wore her expressions as openly as her mother, was also easy to read.

“Because they didn’t have any parents, Éclair had to work very hard to support herself and her sister. Lucikly, Éclair was a skilled seamstress and many people from the town they lived in came to her to have their clothes made. When Serra got older, she too worked, but unlike her sister who was a skilled seamstress, Serra’s talent lay in cooking, and so she worked in the town’s inn, making meals for the townsfolk and the travellers that passed through. And because both of the girls were very hard working, very kind, and very beautiful, the townsfolk grew to love them very dearly and for a while, they lived well.” Fang made a sad face. “However, things changed when the mayor of the town, a man named Galeth, decided to try to rid the town of the haunted manor that lay in the woods near the town. To get rid of the haunted manor, the mayor called in many soldiers. One of those soldiers was a man named Ice. Now, Ice was a good young man, a bit silly perhaps, and not particularly bright, but he had a pure, kind heart and he was brave and loyal to his friends. Because there weren’t enough houses for the soldiers, Ice ended up staying at the inn where Serra worked and the two of them quickly fell in love.”

Averia made a face. “Ewww…”

Fang couldn’t help herself – she laughed. “Anyway, eventually the day came when Ice and the other soldiers went into the deep, dark woods to try and get rid of the haunted manor. However, the monster that lived there turned out to be very strong and all of the soldiers were defeated, some never to be seen again.”

“What happened to Ice?” Claire asked. “Was he okay?”

“Well, he wasn’t okay,” Fang said, “But although he was very badly hurt, his love for Serra was so strong that he managed to make it back to town where doctors were able to save him. However, the attack on the haunted manor had made the monster very angry and it sent a message to the town: They would have to sacrifice one of their own people and send them to stay with it at the manor, otherwise, the monster would come and destroy them all.”

“That’s mean!” Diana cried. “If only they’d had Mr Snaggles!” For emphasis she waved her plush toy around, the little Bahamut looking less than menacing as it swung through the air.

Fang nodded. “I guess you’re right, if the real Mr Snaggles had been around, the townsfolk wouldn’t have been worried at all, but in any case, he wasn’t, so they were very worried indeed.” She made a sad face. “For several days, the townsfolk talked amongst themselves about who they would send to the monster but no one would volunteer. Eventually, the monster sent another message to the town and told them that they had one more day to decide who would go, but still they couldn’t agree on who should have to go. Finally, fearing for her sister’s safety, Éclair said that she would go, so long as the townsfolk and Ice promised to look after Serra and make sure that she would always be safe and happy. Serra begged her not to go, but Éclair knew that if she didn’t then no one would go and then all of them would be destroyed by the monster.

“So, the very next morning, Éclair set off into the deep, dark woods, following instructions that Ice had given her that would take her to the haunted manor. She walked for a long time, and finally, just as the sun was about to set, she reached the haunted manor, but instead of a scary, creepy looking place, she found the most beautiful place she’d ever seen, with lush green grass in front of a big, well-kept manor. There were also beautiful flowers everywhere and brightly painted fences. There was even a small lake with lots of fish in it.” Fang smirked. “It was nothing at all like Ice had said it would be, and for a while Éclair wondered if Ice had given her the wrong directions, or if she’d gotten lost.”

“Was she at the wrong place?” Averia asked. “Because it doesn’t sound like a place where a monster would live.”

Fang laughed. “No, it doesn’t, does it?” She smiled. “But sure enough it was the right place, because when Éclair reached the gates, she was welcomed by two servants, a young woman named Apple and a young boy named Faith. They welcome Éclair to the manor and told her that it was indeed the monster’s manor. Naturally, Éclair was very surprised, not only by how the manor looked, but also by the fact that she was being welcomed. In fact, she’d expected the monster to just jump out and eat her or something. As it was, Apple and Faith explained to her that the manor was magical and for those who were welcome, it would always look good, but for those who were not welcome, it would always look gloomy.”

“Wow,” Diana whispered. “That is so cool.”

“It sure is,” Fang said, “But that’s why it was a magical manor and not just a normal one. Anyway, Apple and Faith asked Éclair if she was hungry and when Éclair said that she was, they told her to get ready, because they were going to make a wonderful meal and she was expected to be there. As Apple went off to get dinner ready, Faith led Éclair up to the finest room in the whole manor. He told her that from now on it would be hers and he showed her a fine dress – the finest dress that Éclair had ever seen – and told her that she should wear it to dinner.

“When Éclair was finally ready for dinner, Faith led her to a big dining room lit by a huge golden chandelier and there, on the dining table, were all kinds of food, from fruits, to sweets and breads, and finely cooked meats. Éclair sat down at the table and was about to start eating when the doors on the other side of the dining room opened and in stepped the monster.”

The children all waited with bated breath for Fang to continue, Diana holding Mr Snaggles close.

“The monster looked just like Ice had said it would,” Fang said. “It looked kind of like a woman but with a long tail, and instead of normal skin, its skin was grey-black in colour and its hair was like living flame. Most people would have tried to run away, but Éclair was very brave and she knew that if she wanted to keep her sister safe, she had to stay with the monster, so instead of running away, or screaming, she thanked the monster for the fine meal and started to eat her dinner.” Fang grinned. “Of course, the monster was very surprised – most people ran away the moment they saw it – but when it saw that Éclair seemed unafraid, it laughed and sat down to eat its dinner, as well.”

“So, the monster didn’t eat Éclair?” Averia asked.

“Not all monsters eat people, you know,” Fang replied before she continued. “After they had eaten dinner, the monster explained to Éclair why she was there. It turned out that the monster possessed a great treasure, one worth more than a thousand times as much as the whole town and everything in it. According to the monster that was the real reason that the town’s mayor, Galeth, had sent the soldiers. That was why the monster had asked Éclair to come to the manor. She was to be the monster’s hostage so that the townsfolk would never attack the manor again. Fortunately, the monster was not cruel, so while Éclair could never leave, she could live well at the manor, eating fine food and wandering its many gardens and rooms.”

“That still seems sad though,” Diana said.

“It was,” Fang agreed. “But Éclair did her best not be sad. After all, the townsfolk and Ice had all promised to look after Serra and so long as her sister was happy, Éclair had no regrets. But because she could never leave the manor, Éclair decided to try and be as happy as she could there. So, as the weeks passed, she made friend with Apple and Faith. She also explored the manor and the gardens around it and got to know them as well as she’d known the town. She even started talking to the monster and before she knew it they were friends as well, because even though the monster looked scary, it actually turned out to be pretty nice. After a while, the monster even agreed to let Éclair write to her sister, to let her know that she was doing well.”

“That was nice,” Diana said.

“It was, and eventually after several months had gone by, Éclair finally asked the monster about something that had been bothering her for a while,” Fang said.

“What was it?” Claire asked.

“Éclair wanted to know about the treasure that the monster had,” Fang said. “She didn’t want it for herself or anything, but she did want to know what could possibly be so valuable. It took days of pleading, but finally, the monster relented. It had come to trust Éclair and so it took her to the most secret part of the manor and showed Éclair its treasure. The treasure was a beautiful rose made out of purest crystal and looking upon it, Éclair could easily believe that it was worth one thousand times as much as the whole town and everything in it. At first when Éclair asked the monster where the rose had come from, the monster did not answer her. Finally, the monster explained to her that it hadn’t always been a monster. In fact, the monster had once been a beautiful woman called Ragna who had lived in the manor with her two most trusted servants, Apple and Faith. One day an evil wizard named Baldanders had come to the manor and demanded that Ragna marry him and when Ragna had refused, Baldanders had put an evil curse on her. The curse turned Ragna into the monster and created the crystal rose. According to the curse, Ragna would live forever and ever, hated by all until either the day the crystal rose was taken from her, which would kill her, or the day the crystal rose turned into a real rose and she was set free. Unfortunately, Ragna didn’t know how to turn the crystal rose into a real rose, so she had lived in her manor as the monster for years and years all alone with no one for company except for Apple and Faith.”

“That stupid wizard!” Averia growled. “Ragna should have eaten him or something when he turned her into the monster.”

Fang chuckled as Claire rolled her eyes. “He probably used his magic to make it so she couldn’t do something like that.”

“Does Ragna change back?” Diana wanted to know. “It would be horrible if she had to stay a monster with everyone hating her just because of that evil wizard.”

Fang smiled. “Well, keep listening to the story and you’ll find out.” She paused. “A year passed and Ragna continued to let Éclair write to her sister because she saw how happy it made Éclair. However, one day, the mayor of the village found one of Éclair’s letters and when he realised that the monster was not as scary as he first thought, he began to tell the townsfolk that the monster was doing all sorts of horrible things to Éclair. Because the townsfolk loved Éclair, and because they were so ashamed of sending her to the monster in the first place, they became very angry and the mayor led all the townsfolk and more soldiers back to the manor to try and take the crystal rose.”

“But why didn’t Serra tell them that Ragna was being kind to Éclair?” Diana asked.

“Because sometimes people believe what they want to believe,” Fang said softly. “It didn’t matter to the townsfolk that in her letters, Éclair said that the monster was treating her kindly. When Serra did tell them, they just said that the monster was forcing Éclair to lie, because to them all things that looked ugly like the monster just had to be evil.”

“That’s not fair!” Diana cried.

“No, it’s not,” Fang replied. “And it’s a good lesson too – just because someone is ugly on the outside doesn’t mean they’re ugly on the inside. The opposite is true too. Someone can be beautiful on the outside but ugly on the inside.” She grinned. “Of course, you three are beautiful on the inside and the outside, so you don’t have to worry.

“Anyway, the townsfolk and the soldiers attacked the manor and this time there were too many for Ragna to fight off. Apple and Faith were put in chains and the town’s mayor, Galeth, broke into the secret room and took the crystal rose. As soon as he put his hands on the crystal rose, Ragna fell to the ground and began to die but Éclair snatched the crystal rose back from Galeth and gave it back to Ragna. Unfortunately, it was too late, and even though Ragna had the crystal rose in her hands, her breathing began to grow fainter and fainter and her heart began to beat slower and slower. Éclair had come to care very deeply for Ragna and when she saw that Ragna was still going to die, she began to weep and as her tears fell onto the crystal rose, something incredible happened.” Fang smirked. “Can you guess what?” 

“Just tell us!” All three children shouted.

Fang laughed. “Okay, okay. So… as Éclair’s tears fell onto the crystal rose, a miracle happened. There was a great whoosh and the crystal rose began to glow. A second later, the crystal shattered and in its place was a single real rose, and it was most beautiful rose that anyone had ever seen. When Éclair looked back at Ragna, she no longer looked like a monster. Instead, she was a woman again, young and beautiful and very much alive.” Fang grinned. “When the townsfolk saw what had happened, they were amazed. They asked Éclair and Ragna to explain and when they found out that Ragna had been cursed and that the mayor had lied to them, they were angry again, but not at Ragna, instead, they were angry with the evil wizard Baldanders and the mayor, Galeth.”

“What did they do to the mayor?” Averia asked, a little too gleefully.

Fang smirked. “They drove Galeth away and he was never heard of or seen again. As for the evil wizard Baldanders, people say that when Éclair’s tears broke the spell he’d put on Ragna, his own magic turned on him and he himself was turned into a monster, to be alone and hated until he too could finally find someone who loved him enough to cry for him.” She laughed. “Although it wouldn’t surprise me if he was still stuck alone and as a monster even now.” She smiled broadly. “As for Ragna, Éclair and the others? With the curse broken, the forest was no long dark and gloomy and Ragna became good friend with all the townsfolk. In fact, she even invited Ice and Serra to live with her, Éclair, Apple, and Faith at the manor, and there they all lived very, very happily for a long, long time.”

“Happily ever after?” Diana asked.

“Yep, happily ever after,” Fang said. She glanced over at Claire and Averia. “So, did you like the story?”

Averia nodded. “It was okay. I like how they drove Galeth away, although maybe they should have fed him to a monster or something.”

Claire seemed to agree. “It had a good ending.”

Fang stood and smiled down at the three children. “I kind of agree with you on that one. Now, why don’t you three get some sleep? Tomorrow, I’ll see if we can’t go to the park or something, maybe even have pancakes for breakfast.” The kids grinned. “Now, hurry up and sleep. The faster you fall asleep, the faster you can wake up and eat pancakes.”

With the kids asleep for the night, Fang headed back down to the living room to wait for Lightning. Out of morbid curiosity, she turned the television back on and she wasn’t sure whether to laugh or put her fist through the television screen when the movie showed her and Lightning engaged in a torrid love scene in the ruins of Oerba. Honestly, if she and Lightning had done that in Oerba during their journey as l’Cie – and so noisily too – there was no way that the others wouldn’t have noticed. 

The front door opened and Fang smirked as she heard Lightning mutter a curse once the other woman walked into the living room and saw what was happening on the television screen.

“We did not do that!” Lightning growled, slumping down onto the couch. “And there is no way that my breasts are that big!”

Fang eyed the breasts in question with a contemplative look. “How was your shift?”

Lightning reached for the remote and turned the television off. “Terrible. One of the new recruits seemed to think it would be a good idea to wedge his head down the throat of a gorgonopsid.”

“Ouch.” Fang made a face. “He’s alive, right?”

Lightning made a disgusted sound. “Of course. Nobody dies on my shift. Still, it took us an hour to get the thing’s jaws off from around his head. Messy too.” She paused for a moment and sniffed the air. Her eyes narrowed. “Fang…”

Fang reached over and tugged Lightning into her lap. Time to lay on that old Yun charm. “Don’t worry about it, Lightning, just had a big of trouble with the popcorn.”

Lightning sighed, but wrapped her arms around Fang. “Please tell me you didn’t set any of the children on fire.” 

“Of course not,” Fang said. “Even I’m not that bad. In fact, all three of them are upstairs in bed right now sleeping.” She tilted Lightning chin up and ran one finger along her cheek. “Speaking of which, how’d you like to head upstairs, as well, for some… sleeping?”

Lightning looked at Fang sceptically. “Sleeping? I don’t really do much sleeping around you, Fang.” She smiled softly. “Although I can’t say that I mind.” She wrapped her arms around Fang’s neck. “Carry me upstairs?”

Fang grinned. “You’re just like Diana, you know.” Lightning smiled as Fang lifted her up bridal style and began to head toward the stairs. “Only you’re a bit heavier than her – ouch!” Fang rubbed jaw. Honestly, how had Lightning managed to get any leverage on that punch from her position?

“What was that?” Lightning asked, a playful scowl on her face. “And don’t think I’ll forget about the microwave either. If we have to buy a new one…”

Fang smirked down at Lightning and started up the stairs. “What makes you think you’ll have the energy to do anything about the microwave once I’m through with you?”

Lightning’s eyes flashed. “Is that a challenge?”

“Damn straight, sunshine.”

X X X

Later, much later, Fang was lying half asleep, her limbs entwined with Lightning’s.

“Did you tell the kids a story today?” Lightning asked quietly.

“Huh?” Fang struggled to stay awake, no easy task with the way that Lightning was gently running her fingers through her hair and pressing soft, gentle kisses against her throat and chin. “Story? Hmm… I guess I did.” She opened one eye lazily. “You want to hear it?”

Lightning chuckled softly. “If you’re not too tired out.”

Fang shifted a little, stroking the small of Lightning’s back. “Too tired? Not a chance. Besides, I think you’ll like this story.”

After Fang had finished telling the story, Lightning chuckled. “That’s quite a story, although you’re just lucky they didn’t see right through you. I mean, Ragna? Ice? Éclair? Serra? Really, Fang.”

Fang grinned. “I know.”

A mischievous smile crossed Lightning’s face. “Although I don’t think I’d have called the lady of manor Ragna.” She pressed her lips against Fang’s. “I think Mrs Snaggles suits you much better.”

X X X

Authors’ Notes

As always I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off this.

Okay… after writing Princess Yuffie and the Demon, I had originally intended to work on some of my other longer stories, but this story just kept beating me over the head until I eventually had no choice but to write it (or face the wrath of Mr Snaggles). Like Princess Yuffie and the Demon, this story is a mishmash of references to traditional fairytales, Disney movies and Final Fantasy.

For those of you who are curious, Fang’s fairytale is loosely based on the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast, what with the magical rose, the person transformed into a monster, and all that jazz (I’ll leave it to your imagination to assign the various characters to their corresponding roles), mashed together with the plot line of FF XIII (the older sister sacrificing her chance at a normal life for the younger sister, the young man and the younger sister falling in love etc. etc.). Naturally, rather than using the original Disney characters, Fang chose to insert her fellow FF XIII characters instead, but after a few name changes (and with some minor tweaking to the plot). That said, I think the name changes might need a bit more explaining. 

Essentially:

Éclair = Lightning  
Ragna = Fang  
Serra = Serah  
Ice = Snow  
Apple = Vanille  
Faith = Hope  
Galeth = Galenth Dysley  
Baldanders = Barthandelus 

Éclair was chosen as the name for the “Lightning” character in Fang’s fairytale because it was the named used for Lighting during the development of FF XIII and indeed in the Japanese version, as well. Ragna is a contraction of Ragnarok, who Fang transforms into (at least partially, anyway). Baldanders is apparently the name used for Barthandelus in some versions of the game and Galeth is a corruption of Galenth. Faith and Ice are, respectively, words closely related to Hope and Snow. The link between Apple and Vanille is a little bit more obscure, but Vanille’s Crystarium crystal is in the shape of an apple, so there you have it. The least obvious link is between Serra and Serah – in fact it’s not even a link based on FF lore. As a matter of fact, I chose Serra not just because it sounds like Serah, but also because I believe Serah shares many of the same personality characteristics as Serra, a famous planeswalker from the trading card game, Magic the Gathering. Both are considered “white magic aligned” in so far as they are kind, gentle, and basically really good, caring people. If you managed to work that out ahead of time, then I tip my imaginary internet hat to you. 

Finally, the names of the children… Averia was chosen on the basis that it was one of the names originally mooted for Lightning’s real name. Claire is, obviously, Lightning’s real name and I don’t think it is that unlikely that Serah would name her daughter after Lightning, and Diana is named the Roman goddess of the hunt, which I think is quite appropriate, given whom her parents are.

Writing this story was good fun, although I would appreciate your feedback on whether or not it’s a vein worth exploring. By that I mean, whether or not you’d be interested in hearing what stories the other characters might have to tell the kids.

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	2. Five Hundred Years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's nothing quite like a sleepover. In between building a pillow fort and defeating Vanille the Vengeful (courtesy of some help from Serah the Spectacular), the girls hear a story about what happened five hundred years ago. It's about a soldier and a warrior and how sometimes love doesn't always work out - and how sometimes it does.

**Five Hundred Years**

The first inkling that Serah Farron had that something, most likely mischievous, was going on in her living room was when she heard a loud thump. A moment later, the loud thump was followed by giggling and the sound of something heavy being pushed across the living room carpet. More than a little curious as to what exactly was going – and, from past experience with her daughter and nieces, a little fearful – she put down the potato she was peeling and peeked into the living room.

The television was still on, but none of the children were watching it. Instead, all three of the girls were busy constructing what looked to be some kind of fort. As usual, Diana had put herself in charge and rather than actually help, the little black haired girl had taken to giving orders, only half of which made any real kind of sense. Most of the actual work was left to Claire and Averia who were pushing two of the couches and some chairs together to form the walls of the fort.

“It doesn’t look like much yet, but add a couple of blankets and some pillows and I think it’ll actually look pretty good.”

Serah turned and rolled her eyes good-naturedly. Rather than try and dissuade the girls from their little project, Vanille had, as usual, decided to join right in. The red head was juggling a pile of blankets and pillows and there was a big grin on her face that left Serah in absolutely doubt as to who would be joining the girls in the fort as soon as it was finished.

“Let me guess, Diana ordered you to get the blankets and pillows?” Serah asked, biting back a smile as Diana began to gesture quite dramatically in an effort to get Claire and Averia to build the fort faster. “You know, I was just like Diana when Lightning and I were little. Whenever we did stuff like this, I’d always make her do all the heavy lifting.” Serah chuckled as both Claire and Averia turned on Diana with scowls on their faces. “And Lightning would look at me just like that. Of course, she’d do what I said anyway, just like Claire and Averia are probably just going to do what Diana says anyway.” And sure enough, it took only the faintest hint of tears – almost certainly faked – from Diana before the two older girls got back to work, albeit grudgingly.

“Why am I not surprised to find out that Lightning spoiled you rotten when you were little?” Vanille replied as she set the blankets and pillows over by the girls. “Although, I can’t say I was much better. Fang spoiled me rotten too.” She lifted a pillow and gestured at Serah. “Care to give me a hand?”

Serah looked back toward the kitchen. The potatoes wouldn’t peel themselves, but a few minutes certainly wouldn’t hurt. Besides, there was a part of her that looked at the mess of furniture and bedding and saw the makings of an excellent fort, one fit for at least one or two good battles. “Sure.”

However, she’d hardly taken a step, before Claire latched onto her waist.

“Mommy!” Claire cried as she wrapped her arms around Serah’s middle and then tugged her over to the fort. “You’re helping right? Here.” She pointed at where a few chairs had been propped up side by side. “Hang a blanket over those and put some pillows there too.”

“Is that going to be one of the walls?” Serah asked as she put a blanket over the chairs, careful to check that they wouldn’t easily tip over, along with some pillows for padding. 

“Yup!” Claire said. “And the couches are going to be the sides.”

Serah felt a smile slip onto her face. It seemed like only yesterday Claire had been a little baby in her arms and here she was building a fort. It probably wouldn’t even be that long before Claire got taller than her, no doubt helped along by Snow’s genes. 

“Aunt Vanille,” Diana said, “Help me with the gate.” The girl gestured at the open side of the fort. “We need some pillows for it or something.”

“I thought you were all watching television,” Serah said as she passed Vanille a pillow. “What happened?”

Averia scowled and both Serah and Vanille shared a grin. That was Lightning’s scowl right there. “There wasn’t really anything interesting on, just news and stuff, so we decided to make a fort instead. Anyway, there’s heaps of stuff you can do with a fort.”

“I see.” Vanille took a step back to admire her handiwork. The fort was looking a lot more fort-like now, with three proper walls and some pillows built up into a crude arch for the gate. “So, what game were you going to play?”

“We were going to play knights and princesses,” Averia said. “Right, Claire?”

Claire smiled and nodded. “Right.”

“Knights and princesses?” Serah’s lips curved into a smile. She could already see one potential problem with the game they’d chosen. “But which one of you is going to be the princess?”

Immediately all three of the girls pointed at each other. In a vain attempt to bolster her cause, Diana got Mr Snaggles to point at the two other girls, as well, the plush toy actually looking a little uncomfortable at being thrust into the position of tiebreaker.

“So… I’m guessing you all want to be knights then?” As gently as she could, Serah took Mr Snaggles from Diana and put him on the little pillow throne that the girls had put together. Plush toys, no matter how well loved and adorable, should not have the chance to vote. Still, it didn’t surprise her very much at all that all three of the girls wanted to be knights. After all, Averia and Diana had Lightning and Fang for parents, so the idea of just waiting around to be rescued was probably as foreign to them as the idea of surrender. As for Claire, well, she was definitely daddy’s little girl and all of Snow’s talk about being a hero had long since convinced the girl that being a hero was the best job in the world. Indeed, that had led to a rather humorous incident when Claire had, in complete seriousness, tried to convince Lightning that being a hero was way better than being in the Guardian Corps. 

“Yes, we all want to be knights,” Claire said. “And I’m going to be the leader and –”

“Hey!” Averia growled. “Why do you get to be the leader?”

Claire narrowed her blue eyes and squared her slim shoulders as she rounded on her cousin. It was a look that Serah recognised all too well – it was the one she used whenever she needed to get Lightning and Snow to do what she wanted. “Because you’re at my house right now. Whenever we’re at your house, you’re always the leader, so it’s only fair that I’m the leader this time.” Claire glanced over at Diana for support, which Serah was pretty sure was a mistake. “You think so too, don’t you, Diana?”

“Um…” Diana grimaced a little as both her cousin and her big sister looked at her for support. Twiddling her fingers a little, she shrugged. “Well… I was kind of hoping that I could be the leader. One of you is always the leader, so maybe I could have a go.”

“You’re too young to be leader!” Claire and Averia said together before they realised they’d spoken together. Miffed, the two of them turned to face opposite sides of the room.

Serah grinned and glanced at Vanille out of the corner of her eye. Like her, the red head seemed quite amused with the whole situation, most likely because, like Serah, she’d lived through it herself. Three years might not seem like much, but the difference between a five year old and an eight year old was pretty large. “You and Fang must have had arguments like this all the time when you were little,” Serah said.

“Actually, not really.” Vanille muffled a laugh as Diana launched herself at Claire in an attempt to prove her ability to be the leader in the oldest of ways: by trying to strangle the other girl. Claire, of course, had no trouble holding Diana off, but things took a turn for the worse when Averia entered the fray. “I was usually pretty happy being the princess and Fang was pretty much always my knight, anyway.” She glanced back at the melee. “Think we should go break that up?”

“Probably,” Serah said with a sigh. Diana had somehow managed to improvise a chokehold on Averia, although just how she’d gone from trying to strangle her cousin to her sister, Serah wasn’t sure. At the same time, Averia had gotten Claire in a bear hug, but as Serah walked toward them, Claire got an arm free and braced her forearm under Averia’s chin in an attempt to shove her off. “Okay, that’s enough you three,” Serah said as she pulled the girls apart. “Now, I don’t mind you three playing fort, but there will be no strangling or bear hugging or any other form of violence. If you can’t play fort peacefully, you shouldn’t play it at all.” She stopped when she realised that all three of the girls and Vanille were looking at her strangely. “What?”

“Serah,” Vanille said, “I can understand the whole no bear hugs and no strangling thing, but it’s kind of hard to play fort peacefully.” All three of the girls nodded firmly in support. “Play fighting is kind of the whole point of playing fort.”

“Oh.” Serah flushed. Vanille was pretty much right. “Well, just try not to be too violent then.” She glanced back at the girls. “How about you take turns? Claire can start off the leader and then maybe Averia can have a go and then Diana, that way all of you can have a go at being the leader.” She looked back toward the kitchen. “Vanille, can you watch them for a while? I’ve got to go finish up dinner.” She smiled. “Now, you girls be good. I don’t want to come back and find that you’ve hurt each other.” 

Vanille waved one hand lazily. “Don’t worry about a thing, Serah, I’ll make sure they don’t go after each other.” She frowned faintly as the three girls formed a little huddle in the fort and started whispering quickly to one another. That was probably not a good sign. “But, Serah, if you hear me screaming come help out, okay?”

Serah paused mid-step. Why would Vanille be screaming? “Um… sure.” And with that she headed back into the kitchen to finish making dinner.

X X X

“So, what are you three plotting?” Vanille asked as she walked over to where the three girls seemed to be deep in discussion.

“Well…” Claire turned back to face her with a sneaky little grin and Vanille felt her eye twitch. Serah had a habit of grinning like that whenever she was plotting something. “We’ve decided that instead of a princess, we’ll have a king.” She pointed over to Mr Snaggles who looked quite regal on his pillow throne. “But we’re still missing something.”

“What?” Vanille took a slow step back as Diana and Averia reached for two pillows and handed a third to Claire. 

“We need a bad guy,” Claire said. “You know, because there’s always a good team and a bad team, but there’s three of us, so we can’t make even teams. But you’re an adult, so if you’re the bad team, then it should be okay, even if there’s more of us.”

“But you can’t cheat!” Diana said. “No magic or Eidolons or anything. You have to fight fair.”

“And how exactly do you expect me to fight?” Vanille asked.

“With this.” Averia threw Vanille what had to be the smallest, most pathetic looking pillow ever. It was a far cry from the good-sized, fluffy pillows that all three of the girls wielded.

“Somehow this doesn’t exactly seem fair,” Vanille drawled. “So… how is this going to work? What am I supposed to be?”

Claire grinned. “You’re an evil knight who is trying to kill King Snaggles! We are the Knights of Snaggles and it’s our job to stop you – by any means necessary!”

Good grief, Vanille thought. Any means necessary? Where had Claire heard something like that? But before Vanille could give the matter any more thought, the girls charged and the battle was on.

“Take this!” Claire cried as she leapt toward Vanille, pillow raised to deliver what she hoped would be the first of many terrible blows to her evil enemy.

“Hah, you’ll have to do better than that!” Vanille crowed as she dodged out of the way. She might not be quite the fighter that Fang was, but she was no slouch with a pillow. It would be a while yet before these three kids were strong enough to take her on. However, Claire’s attack had given Averia and Diana the chance to circle around behind her.

“For King Snaggles!” Diana screamed as she laid into Vanille with a barrage of pillow strikes.

Vanille stumbled back into one of the couches that made up the sides of the fort, more out of shock than anything else, as Diana just wasn’t big enough to do any real damage. But Averia was quick to seize the opportunity and Vanille scowled as the girl caught her with a solid whack across the stomach. She narrowed her eyes and swiped back at Averia only for the girl to ghost back with an agility that seemed out of place for someone so young, or perhaps not, considering who her parents were.

Over the next few minutes, they exchanged more blows, but Vanille was more than able to hold her own.

“Hmmm…” Claire mused as she circled around Vanille. “Aunt Vanille’s pretty tough, isn’t she?”

Averia nodded. She’d already taken a few good hits herself. “I thought for sure we’d have won by now.”

Diana giggled. “I hit her a lot, but I don’t think it did very much.”

Vanille grinned and raised her pillow menacingly. “You three should consider yourselves lucky that I let you get the first few hits in. Now, prepare yourselves, they don’t call me Vanille the Vengeful for nothing.”

Claire frowned. “Vanille the Vengeful? Who calls you that?”

Vanille chuckled weakly and scratched the back of your head. “Now that you mention it, nobody, but it sounded like a good name – I am an evil knight, aren’t I?” The girls nodded, that was kind of a good point. “Good, now get ready to face the power of my revenge!”

With a growl, Vanille charged. The girls immediately retreated, each one of them going in a different direction. However, Vanille was more than ready for that. She landed a smart hit across Averia’s side and the girl let out a squeak of alarm as Vanille forced her back with a series of pillow strikes, landing about half of them and forcing Averia to take refuge in the sanctuary of the fort. Diana followed shortly after, the youngest of the three girls no match for Vanille’s awesome pillow duelling skills as the red head bopped her once over the head and then finished her off with a deadly tickling attack that had Diana giggling hysterically until Claire and Averia came to her aid.

“Unhand her, vile fiend!” Claire shouted as she leapt onto Vanille’s back, pillow in hand.

Vanille had just enough time to once again wonder where on earth Claire was learning these phrases before Averia whacked her in the stomach with her pillow. Normally, she’d have easily been able to block the attack, but with Claire on her back, it was a lot tougher. A second later, she found herself tumbling to the floor as Diana dove at her legs.

“Gah!” Vanille cried as she suddenly found herself on the receiving end of a barrage of pillow strikes. “Serah, help!”

X X X

“Serah, help!”

Serah stopped was she was doing the moment she heard Vanille scream for help. Over the past few minutes, she’d heard the sounds of pillow fighting coming from the living room, but this was just a little too much.

She went back to the living room and then stopped dead as she took in the sight in front of her. Vanille and the girls were engaged in a furious pillow fight. Despite the numbers being three to one, Vanille wasn’t doing too badly, even though the girls had her pinned to the ground. Somehow, the red head managed to get to her feet and she quickly grabbed Claire and backed away, her pillow pressed against the girl’s side. 

“Mommy, help!” Claire shouted. “Aunt Vanille’s using me as a hostage!”

Vanille grinned evilly. “Even your mommy can’t save you now, kiddo. Vanille the Vengeful always gets her revenge.” She smirked. “Now hand over King Snaggles unless you want Claire here to suffer a horrible tickling.” Just for emphasis, she poked Claire in the side and the girl let out a muffled squeak. “Well, what’ll it be?”

“Aunt Serah, you have to help us!” Averia said. “Aunt Vanille’s torturing Claire.”

Serah took a moment to think things over. Dinner was already pretty much ready, it would just take a little bit longer on the stove to finish. That meant she was free to do as she pleased, at least for a while. Smiling sweetly, she reached for a pillow and made her decision.

Whack.

“You traitor!” Averia growled as she reeled away from Serah’s attack. “You’re supposed to be on our team.”

“Four against one doesn’t seem fair,” Serah said. “Besides, this way it’s adults versus kids.” 

“Take this, Aunt Serah!” Diana shouted as she hurled her pillow at Serah with all her might.

Serah ducked the pillow easily, glad that she’d remembered some of Lightning’s situational awareness training and replied with a well-placed swipe of her own pillow. Diana went down in dramatic fashion, clutching her stomach and wailing to high heaven about how she’d been mortally wounded, complete with gory sound effects. Naturally, Averia was determined to take revenge for her fallen sister and came after Serah with a flurry of strikes. Unfortunately, skilled parents or not, Averia was still young and Serah had learned the noble art of pillow fighting from the best. Thus it wasn’t long before Averia was down, as well, defeated by a nicely timed swipe to the side.

“Hehehehe,” Vanille said as she gave Claire a little bop on the head with her pillow. “It looks like the adults win this one.” Stepping into the fort, she raised her pillow to whack King Snaggles over the head.

Whack.

“Huh?” Vanille the Vengeful turned around just in time to receive another whack over the head from Serah. “What are you doing?”

Serah smirked at Claire who was looking at her with a look absolute awe. “I, Serah the Spectacular would never betray my daughter. I may have looked like I was on our team, Vanille, but I was actually a spy for my daughter’s team!”

“A spy for your daughter’s team?” Vanille hefted her pillow. “I’ll show you how Vanille the Vengeful deals with traitors!”

What followed was a battle of epic proportions as Serah the Spectacular and Vanille the Vengeful fought to determine which of them was truly the better pillow fighter. Unfortunately for King Snaggles, it was Vanille who ended up victorious, the red head pointing her scruffy pillow at Serah’s chest as the other woman lay on the ground.

“Yield!” Vanille ordered.

“I yield,” Serah said as she pushed Vanille’s pillow away. “I’m sorry, girls, it looks like I was no match for your Aunt Vanille.”

“No, mommy, you were awesome!” Claire said. “I bet Aunt Vanille only beat you because she cheated!”

Vanille scowled and Serah chuckled. “I don’t think Aunt Vanille cheated.”

“But she’s on the bad team,” Diana said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “That means she’s probably a cheater.”

Just then there was a ring from the kitchen and Serah stood up and dusted herself off. “Well, it sounds like dinner is ready. Come on, help me get everything ready.”

X X X

After dinner, which, as usual, was an interesting exercise in crowd control, Vanille helped Serah get the dished cleaned up tidied away. Past experience had taught both of them that the girls’ enthusiasm for helping didn’t necessarily translate into results. More often than not, the three ended up making a mess of things with the soap and water. 

“You know,” Vanille said as she gave Serah a wry smile. “You’re not too bad with a pillow.”

Serah grinned back. “I learned from Lightning.” She flexed her shoulders. “I’m a little rusty though.”

“That’s to be expected, I suppose.” Vanille reached for another dish to dry off. “One of these days we should probably organise a family match or something. We could have you and Snow take on Fang and Lightning.”

Serah chuckled. “I’m not so sure that would be a good idea.”

“Why not?” Vanille asked. Snow was pretty big so he couldn’t be too bad in a pillow fight, although Lightning did use a sword and she’d probably use the fight as an excuse to… oh. “Yeah, you’re probably right about that. Lightning would probably find a way to kill Snow with a pillow. Either that, or she’d stuff her pillow with rocks.”

Serah giggled. “The scary thing is that I can actually imagine that.” She glanced back toward the living room. “We’re just about done here. We should probably go see what they’re up to now.”

“Just make sure you’re ready for an ambush,” Vanille said. “And just to be clear, I’ve got my eye on you, miss Serah the Spectacular.” 

Serah flushed and swatted at Vanille with a dishcloth. “Oh, like you can talk, Vanille the Vengeful.”

As it was, there was no ambush, but the three girls did make themselves very clear about their desire to sleep in their newly constructed fort. 

“Mommy, can we please sleep in the fort?” Claire asked. “We’ll be good, I promise.”

Serah looked at her little girl and smiled. She really was adorable. “All right, but only if you behave. I don’t want to come here in the middle of the night and find you fighting, or watching television or…” She looked at Averia who actually squirmed a little, “Sneaking candy.”

“We promise,” Claire said. “Mommy… you know what would be really cool?”

“What?” Serah asked.

“Well, we had to get Aunt Vanille to play with us because we didn’t have even teams but maybe if I had a little sister that wouldn’t a problem anymore.” Claire grinned. “It could be me and her versus Averia and Diana.”

“Grargh.” Serah ignored Vanille’s laughter and looked back at her daughter who was looking up at her quite expectantly. Admittedly, she and Snow had been thinking of having another child, and she knew that Snow would just love it if they had another daughter, but somehow she didn’t think having even teams when playing fort was a good reason to have another child. “Uh…”

“What your mommy means,” Vanille said as she grinned at Serah, “Is that having another baby is a really serious thing, not something you should do just because you want even teams.”

“Oh.” Claire looked a little disappointed. “I guess so.”

“When are you going to have a baby, Aunt Vanille?” Diana asked. “Mommy says you’d be a great mommy and you always take good care of us.”

Vanille flushed. “Okay, enough questions,” she clapped her hands together. “It’s about time for you three to go to bed, so how about a story?”

“Okay!” All three girls said.

“How about you tell the story,” Serah said to Vanille. “It would be good practice for you, you know, when you decide to have kids.”

Vanille gave Serah a look to make sure that the younger Farron knew she was treading on dangerous ground. “Well, I suppose I could. It has been a while since I’ve told you three a story.”

“Yeah, it has,” Claire said, “And your stories are always really good too.” She paused. “I bet Aunt Fang steals a lot of them, doesn’t she?”

“She does not!” Diana growled. “Does she?”

Vanille chuckled and patted Diana lightly on the head. “Only a couple of them.” In truth a lot of Fang’s stories were ‘borrowed’ from Vanille, but that didn’t really matter. It was more than enough for her that someone was enjoying the stories. It meant that Oerba’s culture was still alive and so long as someone knew the stories, Oerba’s culture would never be forgotten. “But what I’m going to tell you is a super secret story that no one has ever heard before, not even your mommy, Diana.” The children all looked suitably impressed and Vanille smirked at Serah. “How about you listen to this one too, Serah, I’m sure you’ll like it.” When everyone was settled in, she continued. “Now my story happens a long, long time ago. In fact, it happened during the War of Transgression. Do you all know what that is?”

Averia nodded. “Wasn’t that when Cocoon and Gran Pulse were fighting each other?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Vanille and Fang had talked long and hard with the others about how much the children should know about the war. Both sides had done terrible things and they all agreed that it was probably best that the children not be told everything until they were old enough to make sense of it. Still, the war wasn’t something that they wanted to ignore completely, so the girls did know of its existence. “The War of Transgression happened a long, long time ago when Cocoon and Gran Pulse were at war.” Vanille sighed dramatically. “It was a very tough war, and lots and lots of people fought. Many bad things happened and a lot of good people lost their lives. Because of all that, many people got very, very angry and perhaps no one was angrier than the Warrior.”

“The Warrior?” Claire asked. “Doesn’t he have a name?”

“The Warrior was a woman,” Vanille replied, “And the reason she doesn’t have a name is because the war happened so long ago that no one can really remember.” She smiled. “However, I do know that the Warrior was from the Yun clan.”

“That’s mommy’s clan!” Diana chirped.

Serah smiled at Diana’s reaction and the proud grin on Averia’s face. Both of Lightning and Fang’s children were extremely proud of their Gran Pulse heritage and Serah knew how pleased Fang was that they embraced not only Lightning’s side of the family tree, but hers as well.

“Yep,” Vanille said, “Your mommy does come from the Yun clan. Now, the Yun clan were a strong clan of warriors. In fact, they were the strongest warriors in all of Gran Pulse.” She smirked. “That’s one of the reasons your mommy is so strong, but really, the reason she’s strong is because of all the people she wants to protect.” She reached over and tweaked Diana’s nose, earning a giggle. “Anyway, the Warrior was from the Yun clan and she was the strongest out of all of them. In fact, the Warrior was the strongest Yun there had even been, which meant that she was super, super strong.”

“Wow.” All three girls had a glazed look in their eyes and Vanille could practically see what they were imagining: some awesomely heroic woman slaughtering seemingly endless hordes of monsters.

“Yeah, wow.” Vanille put on a sad face. “But although she was strong, the Warrior’s life was sad. You see, when she was very young, bad people from Cocoon came and attacked her village. Many people were killed, including the Warrior’s family, so she became an orphan. Luckily, though, she made many friends at the orphanage and they became her new family. However, she could never forget what had happened and so the Warrior trained very, very hard so that one day she would be strong enough to take revenge on Cocoon.”

“That’s really sad,” Claire said. “Why did the people from Cocoon have to be so mean?”

Vanille sighed. “War is a really sad thing, Claire, and even good people can do bad things during a war. The people of Cocoon were told all kinds of horrible things about the people of Gran Pulse, things that weren’t true, just so that they would think that killing them would be the right thing to do. But listen, killing should never be the first you try when you’ve got a problem, it should be the very last thing, because once you kill someone you can’t take it back.” She paused to make sure that all three of the girls understood the importance of what she’d said. “Eventually, the Warrior became known across all of Gran Pulse and she journeyed far and wide training and fighting to try and become even stronger. Along the way, she encountered many, many soldiers from Cocoon, but she was also able to win, at least until she met… the Soldier.”

Averia’s brow crinkled. “The Soldier? Doesn’t she have a name either?”

Vanille grinned. “What makes you think that the soldier was a woman?”

“Well, why not?” Averia sat up. “Mom’s a soldier and she’s a woman.” 

Evidently, Vanille thought, the girls hadn’t yet realised that their family, whilst normal to them, was hardly normal elsewhere. Even though the Guardian Corps allowed woman to join, there were still far more men in it than women. “Point taken,” Vanille said. “And, as a matter of fact, you’re right. The Soldier, whose name we don’t know because of how long ago all of this happened, was a woman too.” There was a rustle of blankets and Vanille suddenly found herself with an armful of Diana as the girl crawled into her lap. Just like Fang, Diana seemed to relish physical contact and given how many times Vanillle had done just the same thing and curled up in Fang’s lap, she thought it would be only fair of her to return the favour. “The Soldier was one of the best fighters in all of Cocoon and when the leaders of Cocoon heard about the Warrior, they gave the Soldier a terrible mission – she was to find the Warrior and kill her!”

The children gasped.

“So, the Soldier searched far and wide for the Warrior and when she finally found her, the two of them fought.” Vanille’s eyes shone as though she were reliving an old memory. “Their fight happened on the top of a mountain and it was the stuff of legends. The Soldier was a swordswoman and each strike of her blade was as swift as lightning and as powerful as thunder. Against anyone else, she would have won easily, but the Warrior was a match for her. The Warrior fought with all the strength and ferocity of a dragon, and each blow of the Soldier’s sword was matched by a blow of the Warrior’s spear. The two of them fought for hours and hours until finally a great storm interrupted their battle and they were forced to stop. However, that wasn’t the last time they fought, for wherever the Warrior went, the Soldier followed and each time they found themselves evenly matched.

“However, one day, the Warrior was ambushed by some other soldiers from Cocoon. Although she was able to beat them, she was separated from her friends and badly poisoned. It was at that moment that the Soldier appeared again and because the Warrior was badly poisoned the Soldier was able to defeat her easily.”

Claire gasped. “Did the Soldier kill the Warrior?”

Vanille smiled and shook her head. “Actually, she didn’t. In fact, the Soldier took the Warrior to a small cottage hidden away on a mountain and nursed her back to health.”

“But why?” Averia asked. “Wasn’t she supposed to kill her?”

“Yes, she was,” Vanille said, “But the Soldier was an honourable person, a good person. If she was going to kill the Warrior, it would have to be in a fair fight, with both of them at their very best.” She chuckled. “Of course, when the Warrior woke up and saw what had happened, she was very surprised, and at first she didn’t want to believe the Soldier when the Soldier explained why she was looking after her. After all, all of the people from Cocoon that the Warrior had met had been cowardly and dishonourable, but as the days passed and the Soldier continued to look after her, the Warrior realised that the Soldier really was a good person. Eventually, after a few weeks, the two of them parted ways, with the Soldier promising that the next time they met, it would be like before, and only one of them would leave the battle alive.”

Vanille laughed. “But the next time they fought, things were different. During their time together, the two of them had talked a lot about their lives and the Soldier had come to know the Warrior very well, and she had grown to realise that not all of the things she’d been told about the people of Gran Pulse were true. In the same way, the Warrior had also come to realise that not all the people of Cocoon were bad people. So, when they fought, it wasn’t like before, because they could no longer bring themselves to try to kill one another. Instead they fought simply to see which one of them was better, for neither of them had ever faced an opponent so skilled before. In the end, they fought until they were exhausted, but instead of being angry that neither of them had been able to win – for their battle had ended in a drawn – they both laughed, for they had never enjoyed themselves so much.”

“Did they become friends then?” Diana asked.

“Yep,” Vanille said. “Although neither of them would admit it at the time. But, as the months passed, and they continued to fight, they found themselves liking each other more and more until they had no choice but to admit that they really were friends.” She frowned. “But they had to be careful, even if they were friends, their people were still enemies and if anyone ever found out, they would be in big trouble, because people from both sides would go after them. Only two other people in the whole world knew that they were friends, the Warrior’s friend who was like her sister, and the Soldier’s sister.”

“What happened then?” Claire asked. “I bet someone else found out about it!”

“Not exactly,” Vanille said. “In fact, for a while, the Soldier and the Warrior were very happy. The Soldier pretended to chase after the Warrior so that they could continue to meet and before long she found herself missing the Warrior whenever they were apart. The Warrior too looked forward to their meetings, and whenever they were apart the Warrior wanted nothing more than to be with the Soldier again. Eventually, the two realised that they weren’t just friends – they were in love – and though they were both scared to admit it, both of them were overjoyed to find out that the other felt the same.”

“That’s icky,” Diana said. “I bet they kissed and everything.”

Serah laughed. “Kissing is quite normal for people who are in love. Your mom and mommy kiss all the time don’t they?” Seeing the horrified look on Diana and Averia’s face, Serah looked at Claire and added, “And I kiss your father all the time, don’t I, Claire?”

“Yes, you do,” Claire said as she made a face. “Too much.”

“Anyway,” Vanille said. “The Soldier and the Warrior became lovers, but it was very hard for them, because they always had to meet in secret and when others were around, they had to act like they hated each other. Yet, as hard as it was, the two of them were happy, as happy as only two people who are truly in love can be. But all of that changed when one day, when the Warrior was away meeting with the Soldier, the Warrior’s village was attacked. Although the village was able to fight off the attack, many people were hurt, even killed, and the friend that the Warrior loved like her own sister was badly hurt. The Warrior flew into a rage – it was just like what had happened when she was younger, and she accused the Soldier of betraying her, of luring her away so that her village could be attacked.

“Did the Soldier really do that?” Diana asked. “Because you said the she loved the Warrior, so she wouldn’t do that, would she?”

Vanille shook her head. “No, the Soldier didn’t do that, it was just bad luck that the Warrior and Soldier had met up at that time. However, you have to remember, the Warrior was a very emotional person, and she’d already lost everything once and would do anything to prevent that happening again. The Warrior said some very mean things to the Soldier and drove her away, vowing never to trust anyone from Cocoon ever again. After that, the Warrior trained harder than ever before, so hard, in fact, that she was chosen by one of the fal’Cie of Gran Pulse to become their champion and strike down Cocoon.

“The Warrior gladly accepted the task, because it meant that she would finally have her revenge against Cocoon. Using the power she’d been given, the Warrior transformed into a powerful monster, one so powerful that it could even destroy Cocoon!” The girls gasped in awe and Vanille saw a glint of unreadable emotion flash through Serah’s eyes. “The Warrior attacked Cocoon and because she was so strong, there was no one would could stop her – she even managed to tear a hole in Cocoon. Eventually, the leaders of Cocoon became desperate and they sent the Soldier out to fight the Warrior, knowing that she was the only one who could stop her.”

“Did they fight, I mean, for real?” Claire asked softly. “Because that would be sad. They loved each other.”

“Yes, they did love each other, even then,” Vanille said. “But the Warrior’s heart was filled with anger and so she attacked the Soldier with all of her might, but instead of defending herself, the Soldier let the Warrior strike her down.” The girls’ eyes widened and Vanille pushed on. “When the Warrior saw what she had done, her anger vanished and for the first time, she stopped and looked around her. All around her, she could see all the things she’d destroyed, all the people she’d hurt and killed, and she realised, perhaps for the very first time, that the people of Cocoon weren’t monsters. They were just people, misguided maybe, but people all the same, just like her own people on Gran Pulse. And worst of all, she saw that in her rage, she hadn’t just attacked the soldiers, she’d attacked everyone around her, even children. The Warrior let out a cry of horror at what she’d done and would have fled, but the Soldier gathered the last of her strength and stopped her, because there was something she wanted to tell the Warrior before she died.”

Vanille paused and swallowed thickly. “The Warrior begged the Soldier for forgiveness and promised that she’d never ever do anything so bad again, if only the Soldier would live. However, the Soldier knew that she was dying and instead asked the Warrior to listen closely to what she had to say.” Vanille’s lip trembled. “This is what the Soldier said: In the beginning, the goal of a warrior is to become one with their sword. A skilled warrior learns to turn even a blade of grass into a weapon. Later on, a warrior needs no sword – they become the sword, and they can kill an opponent from a hundred paces with nothing more than their bare hands. But the ideal of all warriors is when the sword disappears altogether. When that happens, a warrior understands that the answer to death is not more death. The desire to kill disappears and only love remains.” Vanille smiled sadly. “And that was all the Soldier said before she died.”

“What does all that mean?” Claire said quietly. “I don’t understand.”

Vanille smiled faintly. “Neither did the Warrior, at first, so I’ll let you think about it for a little while. Confused, and stricken with grief, the Warrior fled Cocoon and returned to Gran Pulse. Many there praised her for what she had done, but the Warrior could find no joy in it. In fact, she grieved day and night and so great were the depths of her sorrow that eventually Divine Etro took pity on her and appeared before her.”

“Really? Etro appeared?” Diana asked.

Vanille chuckled. Fang had done a pretty good job of explaining their beliefs to her children, and though the children hadn’t grasped all the subtleties, they knew enough to understand that Etro didn’t just appear to anybody. “Yes, Etro herself appeared to the Warrior. Etro asked the Warrior why she was grieving and so the Warrior explained to Etro all that happened. When she was done, she begged Etro to end her suffering, to strike her down for killing the one she had loved most in the whole world, but Etro refused. Instead, Etro asked the Warrior if she understood the Soldier’s words. Tearfully, the Warrior admitted that she did not.” Vanille looked around. “Have any of you worked out what the Soldier meant?”

Surprisingly, it was Serah who spoke. “The Soldier understood that the war would never end so long as they fought with hatred in their hearts, because someone who fights with only hatred in their heart can only ever destroy, not only themselves, but everything around them.” Her eyes shimmered. “The Soldier loved the Warrior so much that she was willing to give her life so that the Warrior could be freed from her hate, so that she would never become a monster.”

Vanille nodded slowly. “Actually, that’s about right, Serah. When Etro told the Warrior the meaning of the Soldier’s words, the Warrior’s grief grew greater still and Etro’s heart was moved. She asked the Warrior how much she loved the Soldier and do you know what the Warrior said?” Vanille closed her eyes. “The Warrior said: I would gladly turn to crystal and endure 500 years for her, 500 years of tearing wind, 500 years of scorching sun, and 500 years of sorrow and regret, and all I would ask in return is the chance to see her just one more time.”

Vanille swallowed back the lump in her throat. “Divine Etro was so moved by the Warrior’s words that she granted the Warrior’s wish. With her great power, she transformed the Warrior into crystal and promised the Warrior that if she could endure for 500 years then she could see the Soldier again.” Vanille chuckled softly. “Etro told the Warrior that although the cycle of life and death might turn, though flesh might age and die, love, true love, between two souls lasts forever and not even 500 years of tearing wind, 500 years of scorching sun, or even 500 years of sorrow and regret could separate the Warrior and the Soldier if their love was true.”

“Well… what happened next?” Diana asked. “Did they really see each other again?”

Vanille ruffled the girl’s hair. “Of course they did.” She smirked. “The Warrior and the Soldier really did love each other, you know, the kind of love that goes on always and always, forever and ever.” She met Serah’s gaze over the top of Diana’s head. “But unbeknownst to the Warrior, Divine Etro had given her another gift for Etro was as merciful as she was wise. When the Warrior changed back from being crystal, she had no memory of the Soldier so that when they met again, it was as if for the first time, without all the sorrow and regret of their past lives to hold them back. Even without their memories though, the Warrior and the Soldier fell in love again, because true love always finds a way, even if sometimes, it has to wait a little while.”

“That was a nice ending,” Claire said softly. “Really nice.”

“Did they have kids and everything?” Averia asked.

Vanille chuckled. “Two lovely daughters, actually.” She looked at Diana who was blinking sleepily. “Now, how about you three tuck yourselves in?” 

X X X

Serah waited until she was sure that all three of the children were asleep before she confronted Vanille. The other woman was in the dining room, the lights dimmed down and a mug of hot chocolate in front of her. There was a pack of marshmallows on the table too and as Serah watched, Vanille opened the pack and dipped one into her hot chocolate.

“Hey,” Vanille said as she gestured at another mug of hot chocolate. “Why don’t you have some?”

Serah took a seat beside Vanille and took a sip of hot chocolate. It was just how she liked it. “That was quite a story, Vanille.”

“Yeah, it was, wasn’t it?” Vanille dipped another marshmallow into her hot chocolate. “Snow and Hope have been out all night. I hope they didn’t run into any trouble. Lightning is going to strangle them if they let anything happen to New Bodhum while she and Fang are off at that Guardian Corps conference.”

Serah smiled. With her sister and Fang gone, Hope and Snow had been left to provide back up in case any serious trouble occurred while they were gone. Vanille had been more than happy to stay over in the meantime – a precaution that both Fang and Lightning had insisted upon, not just for the children, but for Serah, as well. Serah appreciated the gesture, even if she did think it was quite unlikely that wild animals would just wander into their house in the middle of town. Still, she thought as she gave herself a little shake, she couldn’t let Vanille distract her. “Don’t try and change the subject, Vanille.” She narrowed her eyes a fraction. “Just how much of that story is made up and how much of it is real?”

Vanille grinned teasingly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t play dumb,” Serah said bluntly. “The Warrior, the Soldier? I think it’s pretty clear who you’re referring to and I know from talking to Fang that Cocoon was only scarred once and by Ragnarok at that.” She softened her voice a little. “Besides, you and Fang were in stasis for five hundred years, right?”

“Well, I’m sure Fang would have mentioned something if things had really gone like in the story,” Vanille said. “I doubt she’d leave anything out.”

Serah shook her head. “You said yourself that Etro took away the Warrior’s memories and you’ve told me yourself that what you remembered more after crystal sleep than Fang, especially about stuff related to Ragnarok.”

Vanille stood and finished her mug of hot chocolate. “In the end, Serah, maybe everything is a story.” She patted Serah on the back. “I’m going to go crash in your guest room. Don’t stay up too late.” She stopped in the doorway and turned, a gentle smile on her face. “But I will say, it was nice to tell that story after so long, especially since I’m the only one who remembers it.”

Serah sat at the table for a long time after Vanille was gone. “Just a story, huh?” She shook her head slowly and then smiled. “Whatever you say, Vanille.” Once she’d finished her hot chocolate, she went over to the kitchen to wash her mug. As she went, she talked quietly to herself, running over the details of the story again in her mind. “It would definitely explain why Fang and Lightning started arguing like an old married couple the moment they met.” She looked over into the living room where the children were sleeping. Somehow, despite starting off on opposite sides of the fort, they were now huddled together under one big pile of blankets and pillows. “Besides, it’s nice to think that sometimes things really do just work out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Author’s Notes**
> 
> As always, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off this.
> 
> So, where to start… this particular chapter has been sort of percolating in my mind since last week, largely because of another idea that I had (one involving possible time travel… make of that what you will) and I decided that rather and let it percolate any longer, it would probably be best to just get it out of the way. Unlike the previous chapter, which was largely based on fairytales and Disney, this chapter is a mish-mash of the FF XIII plotline and Chinese kung fu movies (yes, you read that correctly, Chinese kung fu movies and FF XIII do mix).
> 
> For those who missed it, the story of the Warrior and the Soldier is loosely based on the events preceding FF XIII. Simply replace the Warrior with Fang and the Soldier with Lightning and do a little tweaking to the story line. I’ve always liked to believe that there was more to the story, and the thought of Fang and Lightning having been together before in a past life was very appealing, especially since it would explain how they seemed to immediately strike a chord in one another. It also makes the fact that Fang ended up back in crystal at the end of FF XIII more tragic. The question then become not what would Fang do for Lightning, but what would Lightning do for Fang (although, seriously, I’m not sure how you top 500 years of being crystal…)?
> 
> At this point I would also like to acknowledge two movies. The first is Hero (the one with Jet Li in it). Not only is the film visually stunning, but it also supplied the basis for what the Soldier told the Warrior as she lay dying. In particular, the Soldiers words were patterns after those of the King of Qi, who after observing the calligraphy of Broken Sword and speaking with Nameless remarked “I have just come to a realization! This scroll by Broken Sword contains no secrets of his swordsmanship. What this reveals is his highest ideal. In the first state, man and sword become one and each other. Here, even a blade of grass can be used as a lethal weapon. In the next stage, the sword resides not in the hand but in the heart. Even without a weapon, the warrior can slay his enemy from a hundred paces. But the ultimate ideal is when the sword disappears altogether. The warrior embraces all around him. The desire to kill no longer exists. Only peace remains.” Of course, the quote has been changed a little to fit the story (the King of Qi’s point is somewhat different from the Soldier’s) but the importance of understanding the ideal of a warrior is the same.
> 
> The second movie that I would like to acknowledge is Reign of Assassins, which apart from having an awesome title (who needs a murder of crows when you can have a reign of assassins), serves as the basis for the Warrior’s reply to Etro when Etro asks how much she loves the Soldier. In the movie, a monk sacrifices himself so that the main character, a female assassin, can finally see the wrongness of her path and renounce violence. Did I mention that the two of them were in love? Anyway, when the assassin asks the monk why he sacrificed himself, he replies “I would turn into a stone bridge and endure 500 years of wind, and endure 500 years of sunlight, and 500 years of rain, and all I ask of her is to cross it.” Later, the assassin asks the monk’s master what his words meant, and it turns out that the monk was quoting a reply given by a student for Buddha when Buddha asked him how much he loved a certain woman. In any case, I loved the quote (and the movie, definitely worth a watch) and couldn’t wait to slip it in somewhere.
> 
> Wow, this author’s note just gets longer and long so I think I’ll just end it here.
> 
> As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	3. Little Red Lightning Hood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snow tells the girls the story of Little Red Lightning Hood.

**Little Red Lightning Hood**

“Daddy, can we have pizza tonight?”

Snow looked over at Claire and grinned. His little girl was doing her best to look as cute as possible, which really wasn’t all that difficult considering how much she looked like her mother. Besides, there was nothing he hated more than disappointing than disappointing her and after a whole week of healthy eating, a Friday night pizza didn’t sound half bad.

“Sure, we can get pizza.” Snow made a zipping up gesture across his lips and smiled at the two other girls who were also at the dinner table with Claire. “But don’t let your Aunt Lightning know.”

All three girls giggled and then nodded quickly. “Okay.”

“If you don’t want my mom to know,” Averia said, “Then we should probably throw the pizza boxes straight into the garbage bin outside, not the one in the kitchen.” She scowled. “That’s how she found out the last time mommy snuck us pizza when we were grounded.”

Snow grimaced. “That’s pretty scary.” Lightning had always been pretty big on the whole healthy eating thing, but even he hadn’t expected her to be so thorough. Then again, she did tend to pay pretty close attention to everything, and several pizza boxes sticking out of the garbage bin in the kitchen wasn’t exactly subtle. Fang could be pretty scary too when she put her mind to it, but most of the time she seemed content to let Lightning carry the hatchet – both figuratively and literally. “In that case, I’ll definitely remember to throw the pizza boxes straight into the garbage bin outside then. So, what flavours do you all want?”

Claire frowned for a moment and Snow was struck by the urge to ruffle her hair. She looked so adorable agonising over what flavour of pizza to get like it was a matter of life and death. “I think I’ll get ham and pineapple on my pizza,” she said at last.

Snow chuckled. “That’s exactly what you got last time, and the time before that.”

“Well, that doesn’t mean I can’t get it again,” Claire huffed. “It tasted really good, so I want to get it again.”

“Fine, fine.” Snow turned to Averia and Diana. “What about you two?”

Averia pursed her lips. “I think I’ll get that one with vegetables on it.”

A look of horror crossed Diana’s face and she turned to point one finger at her sister. “You can’t get that one!”

“Why not?” Averia frowned and pushed Diana’s finger out of her face. “Uncle Snow asked us to choose what flavour of pizza we want and that’s the one I want.”

“But it’s pizza,” Diana wailed. “You can’t ruin it by putting vegetables on it. That’s not the point of pizza at all!” She threw her hands up in despair. “You might as well eat broccoli.”

Snow sniggered. Despite the increasingly ferocious scowl on Averia’s face, Diana’s words did make sense in a bizarre child-centric way. He and Serah had to fight tooth and nail to get Claire to eat her vegetables and he knew that Lightning and Fang had exactly the same sort of problem with Averia and Diana. Every bit as stubborn as both her parents, Diana probably saw her sister’s decision to get vegetables on her pizza – one of the least healthy foods they were allowed – as some kind of hideous betrayal, a surrender in the never ending war between them and their parents over what constituted a decent meal. 

“It’s different,” Averia insisted with a firm shake of her head. “It’s pizza, so the vegetables don’t count.” She looked at Claire. “Besides, Claire is getting pineapple on her pizza and pineapples are fruits.”

“But pineapples are special,” Claire replied. “They’re… cooler than other fruits and vegetables.” Diana nodded in agreement. “But maybe you can put some other stuff on your pizza to balance the vegetables out, Averia, like extra sauce or meat or something.”

Snow’s mouth twitched. “Okay, that’s enough.” He smiled. “How about this? Since we’re not telling Aunt Lightning about the pizza, she’ll never know about the vegetables and if she does find out, since we’ll all be in trouble anyway, we can say that Averia’s pizza had lots of horrible things on it, like chocolate and candy.” 

Diana looked at Snow like he was the most incredible person who’d ever lived. “That’s a really good idea, Uncle Snow. You’re awesome.”

“I know, I know,” Snow said, patting her on the head. “But try telling that to your mom. Now, what about you Diana?”

“I want one with just cheese on it.” Diana’s eyes narrowed ominously. “Just cheese.”

Averia gawked for a moment and then rounded on her sister. “Just cheese? Your pizza is almost as healthy as mine!”

“No, it’s not,” Diana countered. “There’s no vegetables on it and that makes it way better than yours.”

Snow chuckled. “Look, stop fighting, pizza is pretty bad for you no matter what you put on it, so just stay here and keep doing your homework while I call the pizza place.”

Leaving the three girls at the dinner table, he went over to the phone and quickly got the pizza ordered. Although the pizza place wasn’t all that far away and he could drive there, it would probably be better to have it delivered. It was just him and the girls tonight and there was no telling what they’d get up to without him around.

The order went off without a hitch and Snow headed back to the dinner table. Provided that nothing went wrong, the pizza should arrive in about twenty minutes. When he got back to the dinner table, he wasn’t the least bit surprised that Averia and Diana were both still arguing about whose pizza was better. They were just like their parents and much like Serah often had to, Claire was doing her best to try and get them to settle down. Of course, that didn’t last long. All it took was one word from Averia about her pizza and Claire was arguing right along with them. 

Content to watch them for just a little while longer, Snow couldn’t help but wonder how things would be once the girls started growing up. They’d probably get into all sorts of trouble and once they were old enough, they’d probably start worrying about boys and girls. He smiled. He could already see Lightning chasing potential suitors off with her gunblade. Heck, knowing her, she’d probably send the Guardian Corps around to rough them up too, just for good measure. 

However, Snow’s smile faded as he realised that Claire would also be on the receiving end of a lot of attention. She looked just like a little version of her mother and if she looked anything like Serah had as a teenager, there would be no shortage of people after her. Well, he’d see about that. His little girl deserved nothing but the best and if some punk kid thought that they could waltz in and… oh… man, he was starting to think like Lightning. 

“Daddy, can you help me with this one,” Claire asked as she held up her exercise book and pointed at one of the problems.

Snow ambled over to the table and sat down beside Claire. Both Claire and Averia were in the third grade – the same class, actually – and what they’d been doing before the little argument over pizza was their maths homework. Some of the problems looked pretty tricky, at least for a third grader, and Snow bit back a smile as he caught the deep frown on Averia’s face. Just like her parents, she would never, ever ask for help. Claire, on the other hand, was much more open to the idea that asking for help was okay. In fact, that was one of the things that Snow had tried very hard to get into Claire’s head. Sure, he wasn’t a philosophical man – he just did what his heart told him was right – but he’d seen how badly things could go when people refused to reach out to each other and he didn’t want that sort of thing to happen to his daughter. It might just be homework now, but if someone couldn’t ask for help over something as little as that, there was no way that they were going to ask for help when it came to bigger things.

Still, he was pretty relieved that Claire was only doing addition and subtraction with a few relatively straightforward multiplication and division questions. If there had been long division to do, he’d have been in some real trouble and he was not about to call Serah to ask for help doing long division. 

“Are these the problems that you want help with?” Snow asked. Claire nodded. “Well, here’s what you do…”

For the next twenty minutes, Snow helped Claire through her homework. Help, however, was probably a bit of an overstatement. After a few little pointers at the start, all he really did was watch. It was probably a little sappy, but he’d always found it fascinating to watch Claire do simple things like homework. She had so many of Serah’s mannerisms, like the way she’d frown when she didn’t understand something, or pout when she got the wrong answer. Just thinking about the fact that she was his and Serah’s daughter made him feel warm inside. He grinned. Really, he was starting to sound all sentimental like Sazh. Maybe he was getting old.

At the same time though, Snow didn’t miss the fact that Averia had been listening in the whole time he was explaining things to Claire, although the girl did her best to hide it. She was a little too much like Fang and Lighting that way. On the opposite side of the spectrum was Diana. The youngest of the three girls was still in kindergarten, so rather than doing homework, she was instead filling an exercise book with colourful pictures. The most recent one was a florid illustration of Gary the Gorgonopsid sitting around a campfire with what looked to be Odin and Bahamut. He smirked. Knowing Diana, it wouldn’t be long before the girl tried to get her parents to recreate the scene for her with their Eidolons and an unfortunate gorgonopsid.

The doorbell rang and after paying for the pizza, Snow got all of two steps before three starving girls pounced on him. It was a testament to how big and strong he was that he managed to not only keep the pizza boxes from falling to the floor, he did so with Claire on his back and Averia and Diana dangling off his arms. 

Halfway through the meal, with all three girls practically inhaling their food, Claire finally got around to asking the question that Snow had been dreading.

“Where’s mommy?” Claire asked. “She said she was going out tonight, but she didn’t say where.”

“She’s with your Aunts,” Snow said. “You know, Lightning, Fang, Vanille, and Lebreau.” Please, he thought, let it end there.

He wasn’t that lucky.

“But what are they doing?” Claire asked. “Is there trouble somewhere?”

Snow grimaced. Oh yes, there would definitely be trouble. Honestly, this was one of the few times when he wasn’t happy about his daughter’s intelligent and inquisitive nature. Now, how to put things? Perhaps it was best to just go with the truth. “They’re going for a girls’ night out.”

“What is that?” Averia asked. “Mommy said the same thing this morning and then she laughed.” She paused. “Then mom kind of looked at her funny, like bad funny.”

Snow paused for a long moment. He could, of course, give the girls a number of examples regarding previous girls’ nights out, but that probably wouldn’t be a good idea. After all, it hadn’t been all that long ago when that same group of five had gotten into trouble. The problem was that with Lebreau involved, the number of sane people, usually Lightning and Serah, were outnumbered by the crazy people, usually made up of Lebreau, Vanille, and Fang, by a margin of three to two. Democracy, it seemed, was not without its dangers.

That particular outing had, apparently, involved a large number of female strippers dressed in Guardian Corps uniforms. They had also worn pink wigs and, just for added fun, every single one of them had carried around fake handcuffs. Lebreau had been the one to come up with it and needless to say Fang had found the whole thing absolutely hilarious, or at least she had until Lightning had made her disapproval known in very strident terms. It had taken a combination of luck, expert dodging ability and Fang, Vanille, and Serah all tackling Lightning to the ground to ensure that Lebreau made it out alive.

Then there was the fishing trip.

Lebreau hadn’t been around for that one, but it hadn’t really mattered all that much in the end. In an attempt to avoid a repeat of the stripper debacle – one that had been made even worse by the fact that Hope, of all people, had been the Guardian Corps officer to respond to the complaints of a large fight – Vanille had organised a fishing trip. That was a big mistake. She really, really should have known better than to choose an activity that could be seen as a competition. As with most things involving Fang and Lightning that could be seen as a competition, the fishing trip had degenerated into a battle for supremacy. Fang might seem more easygoing than Lightning, but she hated losing every bit as much. Serah and Vanille had found the whole thing quite nice to watch until both Fang and Lightning had seriously begun to consider using their Eidolons to try and seize victory.

So, naturally, when Serah had told Snow that she and the others were going for a girls’ night out, he hadn’t asked what they were going to do. Frankly, he didn’t want to know, because it was likely that he’d be the one to deal with the aftermath. By not knowing he could at least truthfully claim ignorance about whatever insane scheme Lebreau was sure to come up with and thereby avoid ending up dead. After all, it would be a shame if Claire had to grow up without a father.

“Uh… daddy, are you okay?” Claire asked. “You had this really weird look on your face.”

“Oh.” Snow sighed. Time to take a shot at explaining things. “Okay, a girls’ night out is when… well, you know how your mommy is really busy a lot of the time?” Claire nodded. “A girls’ night out is a chance for her to go out with all her friends and have some fun.”

“Wow.” Claire grinned. “That sounds really fun, but why aren’t you going, daddy?”

“It’s kind of a special thing. You see, on a girls’ night out, only girls go,” Snow said.

“Oh. Well, is there a boys’ night out or something?” Claire asked.

Snow winced. There was absolutely no way that he was going to go there. “Yes, there is, but how about we talk about that later?” He grinned and reached for a slice of Claire’s pizza. “All this talking is making me hungry. How about you give me some of your pizza?

“No!” Claire giggled as she slapped his hand away. “That’s mine!”

A flash of movement in the corner of his eye got Snow’s attention and he turned to find Averia eyeing his pizza longingly. “Hey, worry about finishing your own pizza before you try and sneak some of mine.” He grinned. “And you might want to turn around.”

Averia turned. “Hey!” she growled. “Put that down, Diana, that’s a slice of my pizza!”

Diana smirked. “Not anymore.” 

Once dinner was finished, Snow immediately put the pizza boxes in the garbage bin outside. Based on past experience, the girls’ night out was sure to end in disaster and he did not need to paint a target on his back by letting it slip that he’d gotten the girls pizza. Now, all he had to do was wait for the girls to finish their homework and then it would be time for them to have a bath and then head off to bed.

As always, bath time was an interesting experience. He’d learned the hard way that no matter what he did, having the three girls in the bathtub was never going to end well, especially when all three of them firmly believed that they were entitled to the most space. As usual, the battle to become ruler of the bathtub ended in a draw, with most of the water ending up on the floor along with the rubber Bahamut that Claire had insisted they buy. Honestly, why couldn’t they have gotten a rubber Shiva?

After bath time, it was time to head off to bed and since Fang and Lighting would be coming over after their girls’ night out to carry Diana and Averia back to their house, he didn’t see the harm in letting the three kids hunker down in his and Serah’s bed. Besides, it was the only bed big enough to hold the three of them and he did not want a repeat of last week, when all three girls had determined that they really all could fit in Claire’s bed. They couldn’t, and they’d ended up on the floor in a tangle of limbs and blankets that had left all of them too irritated to go to sleep.

“Tell us a story, Uncle Snow!” Diana cried. She was in the middle of the bed and had already begun to cling to Averia.

“Sure,” Snow said as he got a chair and sat down beside the bed. “What kind of story do you want to hear?”

“It has to have a gorgonopsid in it,” Diana said. “A cool one.”

“And sisters,” Averia said.

“And fighting too,” Claire added. “There has to be fighting otherwise it’ll be boring.”

Snow chuckled. He probably shouldn’t have asked them what kind of story they wanted, and he wasn’t entirely sure what to make of Claire’s request that there be lots of fighting in it. Then again, with people like him, Fang, and Lightning around, it probably wasn’t that much of a surprise that Claire liked fighting, or that she was good at it too. The last time a boy had made fun of her pink hair and pushed her, she’d dropped him with a textbook right cross. Sure, there had been trouble, and Serah had been utterly mortified, but it had also been one of the few times that he and Lightning had agreed on something. If that boy didn’t want to get punched in the face, he probably shouldn’t have made fun of Claire’s hair or pushed her.

At Serah’s behest, Snow had done all the right things, namely he’d scolded Claire about how hitting people was not the best way to deal with things. Then, once he was sure that no one was looking, he’d shown her the proper way to throw the punch so that her knuckles wouldn’t hurt as much. He’d also bought her an ice cream.

“Okay,” Snow said after a few more moments of thought. “I think I know a story you might like.”

“What’s it called?” Claire asked.

Snow paused. “Well… it’s called Little Red Riding Hood. It’s a good story.”

The three girls looked distinctly unimpressed.

“We heard that story at school,” Averia said with a frown. “It was really bad.”

Claire nodded in agreement. “The girl in it couldn’t do anything – she had to get someone else to save her.”

Diana waved one fist around in the air. “And the gorgonopsid in it was bad. He should have been good – like Gary.”

Snow smirked. He’d anticipated this sort of reaction and had already begun to make a few changes in his head. “It seems like they told you the lame version of Little Red Riding Hood. What I’m about to tell you is the good version, the heroic version of Little Red Riding Hood.” And just to reassure them that he was not about to tell them a lame story, he flashed them his most heroic smile. Naturally, Claire was impressed, while Averia’s eye twitched in a very Lightning-like fashion. Diana, just quietly stole another pillow for herself.

“Okay,” Snow said. “The story begins long, long ago in a village near some deep, dark woods.” He waved his hands around in what he hoped was a scary manner. “And in that village there were two sister. Their names were Rose and Helen.”

“Those are weird names,” Averia said. 

“Well, that’s just what their names were,” Snow replied. He grinned. “I’m sure that there are people who think your name is weird too.”

Averia huffed. “I guess.”

“Anyway,” Snow said, “The two sisters lived all alone because their parents had passed away. However, they weren’t poor because the older sister, Rose was a brave and powerful hunter who made a living hunting down monsters and keeping people safe. Everyone in the village, and even in all the towns and cities nearby knew about her and she never had to look hard for work because there were so many monsters around.”

“Rose sounds awesome,” Diana said.

“Indeed she was,” Snow said with a smile. “And so was the younger sister, Helen. Unlike Rose, Helen wasn’t a good fighter, but she was kind and smart, and all the children in the village liked her because she looked after them whenever their parents were away working. When she got older, Helen also started a school so that she could make the children smart just like her.”

“I like Helen,” Claire said. “Mommy always says teaching people is important.”

Snow reached forward and ruffled Claire’s hair. “Teaching people is very important.” He smiled. “Now, one day, Helen met a brave and handsome – and very heroic – woodcutter who made a living cutting down trees in the deep, dark wood and selling them for money. Now, even though the woodcutter and Helen became good friends, it was very hard for them to see each other. You see, because of his job, the woodcutter had to live in the deep, dark woods where there were lots of monsters.

“However, Helen came up with a very clever plan that would make it easier for her to visit the woodcutter. Her sister, Rose, was very famous, not just because of how good she was fighting, but also because of the red riding hood she wore wherever she went. It was very, very famous and all the monsters in the world learned that whenever they saw that red riding hood, they had to run away otherwise Rose would get them. So, Helen bought some cloth in exactly the same shade of red as her sister’s red riding hood and made one just like it. Then, whenever she wanted to visit the woodcutter, all she had to do was put on her red riding hood. The monsters would take one look at her and then run away because they thought it was Rose and not Helen.”

“That’s really smart,” Claire said. “I wonder why more people didn’t do that though.”

Snow laughed. “Well, remember, Helen was very smart and not everyone was as smart as her, so they probably didn’t think of it. Anyway, things went on like that for a while until eventually Helen and the woodcutter, who was named Sunou – fell in love. However, even though Helen was very happy, she was also very worried that her sister, Rose, would not like Sunou.”

“But why?” Claire asked. “Was he a bad person?” 

Snow shook his head. “No, Sunou wasn’t a bad person, but he wasn’t rich and his house was not only in the middle of the deep, dark woods, it was also very little. Rose wanted her sister to marry someone who could look after her so that Helen would never have to worry about money or a house or anything like that.”

Claire frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. “But Helen loved Sunou, isn’t that what matters?”

“Yeah,” Averia said. “Mommy always says you should marry someone because you love them and not just for their money and stuff.”

Diana nodded. “Rose was being a big meanie.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that Rose was being a meanie,” Snow said with a thoughtful look on his face. “You have to remember that Rose and Helen didn’t have parents and Rose’s job was very dangerous. She probably just wanted to make sure that no matter what happened to her, Helen would be okay, and that’s what sisters should do, shouldn’t they?” Grudgingly all three girls nodded. “So, instead of telling Rose, Helen continued to meet Sunou in secret, but unfortunately for them, things were about to change. There was a big drought and the river that flowed through the woods dried up. Because of that, many of the animals that lived in the woods went away and those that stayed grew very hungry.” Snow paused and then added dramatically, “And no one was hungrier than… Claw!” 

Diana sat up quickly. “Claw? Who was Claw?”

Snow cackled and made claws out of his hands. “Claw was the biggest, scariest gorgonopsid that had ever lived. She was big and strong and black all over and she had these big, gleaming green eyes.” He smirked. “She was the ruler of the woods and even if there were other monsters that were bigger than her, it didn’t matter, because she fast and clever too, and none of them could beat her.”

Diana’s eyes shone. “Claw is such a good name. Why couldn’t I be named Claw?”

Snow burst out laughing. To be honest, he’d often wondered that exact same thing. After all, Fang was named Fang, so naming a child Claw wouldn’t have been that out of the question. Then again, there was just something weird about naming a girl Claw, especially one like Diana who looked far more cute than threatening. 

“You’ll have to ask your parents about that, Diana,” Snow said. “So, Claw was the ruler of the woods, but at the same time, she was a good monster.” That got an approving nod from Diana. “Because even though she was big and scary, she only ever attacked other monsters and not people, but after the river dried up, so many animals went away that Claw started thinking that maybe she needed to attack people or she would starve. In fact, one day, she got so hungry that she followed Helen when she was going to visit Sunou, even though Helen was wearing her red riding hood.”

“Oh no!” Claire gasped. “Did Helen get eaten?”

“No. Luckily, Helen was able to run away, but she was afraid to tell her sister about Claw because if she did then Rose would ask why she had been in the woods and then Rose would find out about Sunou and get very angry.” Snow chuckled. “But unfortunately for Helen, Rose already knew about Sunou because she had talked to some of the other villagers who had seen Helen sneak into the woods. The next day, filled with anger, Rose went into the woods wearing her red riding hood to talk to Sunou.”

“She was going to beat him up, wasn’t she?” Averia asked.

Snow laughed. “Pretty much.” He grinned. “But as Rose walked through the woods, Claw watched her. Remember, Claw had just gone after Helen the day before and so Claw thought Rose was Helen. Because of that, Claw was confident that she could win, because Helen hadn’t been able to fight back at all. Finally, Claw thought, she would have some food.” Snow once again made his hands into claws. “Finally, halfway to Sunou’s house, Claw pounced!” Diana grabbed Averia and Claire. “But Rose was not like Helen – she could fight. So, Rose and Claw fought and fought and fought and for a long time they were evenly matched, but remember, Claw hadn’t eaten for a long time, so eventually, Claw got really tired and collapsed to the ground. Rose was just about to kill Claw when…”

“NOOOOO!” Diana screamed.

“But,” Snow said, pointedly. “Rose stopped when she saw how thin Claw was. In fact, Claw was little more than skin and bones. That was when Rose realised that Claw had only attacked her because she was starving – remember, Claw had been around for a while now and she’d never attacked other people before. Taking pity on Claw, Rose gave Claw some of her own food and water. From that moment on, Rose and Claw were friends, and Claw even led Rose to Sunou’s house as thanks.

“When they got there, Rose challenged Sunou to a fight to the death unless he gave up Helen. However, rather than give up Helen, Sunou accepted Rose’s challenge, and even though Rose beat him up really badly, he wouldn’t give up. Finally, Rose saw how much Sunou loved Helen and took pity on him. She would let Helen and Sunou be together, but if Sunou ever hurt Helen, then Rose would come back and finish him off. In fact, she’d even have Claw help.”

“And then what happened?” Claire asked. “Did they live happily ever after?”

“Well, yes,” Snow said. “Sunou and Helen lived happily ever after.”

“What about Rose?” Averia asked.

“Yeah, and Claw? What about Claw?” Diana asked as she made several clawing motions through the air with her hands, complete with sound effects.

“Well, they lived happily ever after too,” Snow said. “You see, because Claw and Rose had become friends, they went everywhere together. Whenever Rose went hunting, Claw went with her and they became even more famous together than they had been apart. Together, they beat all sorts of really bad monsters and Claw never went hungry again. In fact, Claw never went back to the woods, instead she came to live in the village with Rose and even though some of the villagers were scared at first, it wasn’t long before everyone liked Claw, just like Rose did.”

“That was a pretty good story,” Claire said. “Way better than the version they told us at school.”

Diana nodded. “And Claw was awesome.”

“Well, I told you it would be good, didn’t I?” Snow stood up and turned off the lights. “Now, you three go to sleep. If you need anything, I’ll be downstairs on the couch.”

Downstairs, Snow stretched out on the couch. There wasn’t anything interesting on television and there really wasn’t all that much to do until Serah got back. Closing his eyes, he decided that maybe it was time for him to go to bed, as well. A few hours later, he was woken up by someone shaking him gently.

“Serah?” he asked as he blinked his eyes.

Serah smiled. “Hey, have a nice night in?”

Snow grinned. “Not too bad. The kids are upstairs in our bedroom, if you’re looking for them.” He gave Serah a quick look from head to toe. She seemed fine. “So…” he asked slowly. “How did it go?”

Serah laughed nervously. “Uh…”

And that was when Snow caught sight of Lightning and Fang by the door. There were traces of what looked to be whipped cream on Lightning’s face and… was she handcuffed to Fang? Sitting up quickly, he blinked a few times to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

“Hi, Snow,” Fang drawled. “How were the kids?”

“Fine, I guess,” Snow mumbled. Yes, Fang and Lightning were definitely handcuffed together and the smirk on Fang’s face was far too big to be healthy. And where was the rest of Fang’s top? The only thing she was wearing above her waist was a bra and… and why was Lightning wearing Fang’s sari instead of the shirt she’d left in? Wait… where was the shirt that Lightning had left in? “What –”

“Do not ask what happened.” Lightning’s eyes promised a swift, horrible death.

Fang laughed and pulled Lightning into an embrace before leaning over to lick off a bit of whipped cream at the corner of Lightning’s lips. “Don’t worry, Snow, I’m sure Serah will tell you once I get old sour puss here to mellow out a bit.” She waved. “We’ll just get the kids, okay.”

“Wait, aren’t you going to take those off?” Snow asked, pointing at the handcuffs.

The heat in Fang’s gaze as she looked at Lightning was an almost physical force. “No, not just yet.”

As the two women went upstairs to retrieve their daughters, Snow looked at Serah.

“Lebreau’s a dead woman isn’t she?” he asked.

Serah nodded glumly. “I don’t think we’ll be able to save her this time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Notes
> 
> As always, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off this.
> 
> This is a slightly different sort of chapter from the previous one. I wanted to bring Snow in and I really do think that he’s much more likely to opt for a more upbeat fairy tale, as opposed to something bitter sweet. 
> 
> With regards to inspiration, I’m not entirely sure where to begin. I’ve wanted to play around with the Little Red Riding Hood story for a while now, because I’ve never been entirely satisfied by it. As I was thinking about how to mix things up for the sake of this story, I realised that Lightning happens to have a nice red cape. Bang. Instant imagery of Lightning as a gunblade-toting, ass kicking version of Little Red Riding Hood, in other words, Little Red Lightning Hood. I should also mention that one of my favourite video game characters is B. B. Hood from Dark Stalkers. Seriously, that is how Little Red Riding Hood should have been, and that only made me more certain that Little Red Lightning Hood was the way to go. 
> 
> As for Claw… it probably won’t surprise you to find out that Claw is basically Fang for the sake of the story. She already can transform into Ragnarok, so I figured her being a giant gorgonopsid isn’t that much of a stretch. Besides, what better way to fulfil Diana’s request that the gorgonopsid in the story (this is set in the Final Fantasy XIII universe, so normal wolves aren’t going to cut it) be good than to have Claw and Rose (Lightning) end up as monster hunting partners?
> 
> Of course, those aren’t the only changes that I made to the Little Red Riding Hood storyline. For one, there are people impersonating the real Little Red Riding Hood (i.e., Helen pretends to be her sister), the visit is not to the grandmother (it is to Sunou) and Rose definitely has somewhat less than benevolent intentions toward the person she is visiting (Sunou), she also does not need saving.
> 
> For those of you who are curious, here is where the names for the characters come from:
> 
> Rose = Lightning  
> Helen = Serah  
> Sunou = Snow  
> Claw = Fang
> 
> Rose was chosen as a pseudonym for Lightning because of what a rose is: beautiful, but somewhat prickly if you get too close. Helen is a bit more complicated. In the Language of Flowers, helenium is supposed to symbolise tears, and Helen can easily be reached by shortening helenium (remember, the crystal that Serah leaves Snow is shaped like a tear). Helen is also the name of the woman at the centre of the Trojan War. Replace Troy with Snow and Greece with Lightning and you can have a similarly epic battle over Serah (is it wrong that I can visualise the Iliad with FF characters in it instead of the real ones?). Sunou comes from the romanisation of the Japanese spelling of Snow. Claw, as a word, can easily be related to Fang. It probably doesn’t hurt that in my mind, I can easily picture Snow viewing Lightning as Dr Claw from Inspector Gadget, only instead of a cat on her lap, it’s Fang. Yes, I am a strange person.
> 
> As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	4. A Tale of Two Sisters

**A Tale of Two Sisters**

There were few things in the world as peaceful as curling up underneath a warm quilt with a book, especially on a cold winter night. But Lightning had a feeling that her peace wouldn’t be lasting much longer. The pitter-patter of small feet came from outside her door, and there was only one person in the house with feet that small.

Lightning smiled. She had to hand it to Diana. Normally, her younger daughter was quite noisy. She liked to throw what little weight she had around. It probably made her feel bigger, which was something that Diana wanted with every fibre of her being. But Diana could also sneak around when she had to. 

It was just a pity that Lightning was used to people sneaking around – she happened to be married to one of the sneakiest people in the world and her sister-in-law was almost as bad. So Diana had a long, long way to go before she would be able to sneak up on Lightning. Not that Lightning minded her trying. Diana was at her most adorable when she was trying to get one up on her parents and older sister.

Still, it was well past Diana’s bedtime. Lightning had already given her a bath, read her a story, and tucked her in. If Diana was awake again, there had to be a reason. A bogeyman attack or bad dream would normally have sent the little girl straight to her older sister for comfort and protection, but Averia wasn’t home. Fang had taken the older girl out into the wilds for a week to teach Averia more about the Yun way of life. 

With Averia and Fang gone, Diana was left with only one person to turn to – Lightning. Naturally, things weren’t that simple. Diana was trying her hardest to be a big girl, and big girls didn’t go to their parents whenever they had trouble sleeping. Diana would either try to sneak in or come up with some obviously fake excuse, and Lightning would do her best to humour Diana without making it too clear that she could see right through her. 

Small hands turned the doorknob and eased the door open just wide enough for a little girl to sneak in. Lightning glanced up from her book. Diana had wrapped herself in Averia’s blanket and was no creeping through the door and over to the foot of the bed. Keen to avoid being spotted, Diana pulled the blanket over her head and slunk across the floor on her stomach.

In Diana’s mind it was the epitome of stealth. To Lightning’s well-trained eye, it was the very opposite. Not only was the blanket making a lot of noise as it rubbed against the carpet but blankets also didn’t just move across the floor on their own. And there was no missing the two plush toys – Mr Snaggles and Mr Gorgy Sharp Tooth – that stuck out of the blanket.

As stealthily as she could – which wasn’t very stealthily at all – Diana lifted up the bottom of Lightning’s quilt and began to crawl her way up the bed and over next to Lightning. Each movement was accompanied by the loud rustling of cloth and the muffled growls of a little girl who was getting more and more tangled in her sister’s blanket with each wriggle. 

Barely able to hold back her laughter, Lightning was sorely tempted to ask Diana if she really thought she hadn’t been noticed. Halfway up the bed, the movement came to a stop and there was a frustrated sigh. Lightning had to stifle a chuckle. Diana must have gotten stuck. Oh well, it was time for mom to come to the rescue.

“What’s this?” Lightning asked with as much curiosity as she could muster in her voice. “Did a mole sneak into my bed?”

Tugging the bundle under her quilt further up the bed, Lightning felt around until she found Diana’s sides. Then she began to tickle. Diana giggled and tried to squirm away, but the blanket might as well have been a straightjacket. 

“Stop it, mom! I’m not a mole, I’m your daughter!”

Lightning lifted Diana up and untangled Averia’s blanket. “I guess I was wrong. It wasn’t a mole – or maybe it was.” She grinned as Diana wrapped Averia’s blanket around her shoulders like a cape and scowled. Diana had stated on many a previous occasion that tickle fights were intrinsically unfair for size-challenged people like her. Lightning with her longer reach and greater strength was a horrible, horrible person for picking on someone as cute and cuddly as Diana. 

“I’m not a mole, mom! Moles aren’t cool, and it would be boring to live underground.”

“The word ‘mole’ can mean more than one thing.” Lightning hid a smile as Diana continued to scowl – even as she settled down on Lightning’s lap. Apparently, the warmth of Lightning’s lap excused her parental treachery. “A mole can also mean someone who is a spy.”

“Really?” Diana perked up. “Then maybe I can be a mole, or maybe even a ninja mole – a ninja spy!”

“Yes, well, ninjas don’t go around in blankets.” Lightning moved her book onto her bedside table and wrapped her arms around Diana. Diana, never one to turn down a cuddle, made herself right at home. In what the girl likely believed to be an incredible display of generosity, Diana even adjusted Averia’s blanket so that it was wrapped around both of them. “I thought I tucked you in, Diana. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Diana pouted. 

Ah. There probably had been a bogeyman attack then or perhaps a bad dream. That was almost certainly why Diana had come wrapped in Averia’s blanket instead of her own. It was funny, though. Diana actually spent more time with that blanket than Averia since she was forever stealing it whenever she snuck into Averia’s bed. The older girl was, apparently, as warm as a furnace even in the dead of winter – which had led to her becoming Diana’s favourite source of warmth when it got cold.

Perhaps Averia had inherited that from Lightning? Fang was always telling Lightning that she was the hottest thing in the house although that could just have been an excuse to justify draping herself all over Lightning at every opportunity. Lightning had lost count of the number of times she’d woken up to find Fang wrapped around her, not that she minded much.

“Diana, it’s okay if you were lonely.”

Diana shook her head. “I wasn’t lonely, mom. I never get lonely. But I thought that maybe you were lonely, so I came to keep you company.” Diana nodded firmly, utterly convinced that she’d managed to fool Lightning. 

It took a great deal of effort for Lightning to keep a straight face as she replied. “Maybe I am lonely,” she said, voice grave. “So, I’m glad that you came to keep me company.”

“It’s okay.” Diana patted her on the back. “Everybody gets lonely sometimes.” She reached over and positioned her two plush toys on the pillow nearby. “Even Mr Snaggles and Mr Gorgy Sharp Tooth get lonely.”

The two plush toys met Lightning’s gaze evenly. As always, Mr Snaggles had the dignified expression of an elder statesman, but Mr Gorgy Sharp Tooth had a much more playful look. Vaguely, Lightning wondered how Diana would react if she was allowed to let the real Bahamut sleep next to her. Knowing Diana, she’d never go to sleep again without the Eidolon curled up beside her.

“At least there are four of us now.” Lightning leaned back, running her hands through Diana’s hair. The only light in the room came from the lamp on her bedside table. Diana went quiet for a few moments and then inched up so that she could play with Lightning’s hair. 

“What book were you reading?” Diana giggled and threw one leg across Lightning’s stomach. The girl seemed to find the difference in size between them amusing and annoying. Still giggling, she grabbed one of Lightning’s hands and moved the fingers into a claw-like position before pretending to fight off the purloined limb.

“I’m not sure you’d like it. It’s a book about the changes in economic and social policy that have come about since the resettlement of Gran Pulse.” Lightning laughed at the perplexed expression on Diana’s face.

“Are there any guns in it?” Diana continued to grapple with Lightning’s hand, which, in her mind, was bent on strangling her.

“Actually, they do talk about guns.”

“And dragons?” Diana made choking noises and thrashed back and forth as she pushed Lightning’s hand against her neck.

“They do mention at least one.”

“Maybe you could read some of it to me.” Diana flopped across Lightning’s legs. Evidently, the deadly power of Lightning’s hand had been too much.

“Not until you’re a bit older. I think you’d find it boring. Even I don’t think it’s that interesting.” The book was well written and soundly researched, but the language couldn’t have been drier. Still, it had made a number of very good points. She might even talk over a few of them with Fang.

“Mom, how come we couldn’t go with Averia and mommy?” Diana fiddled with Averia’s blanket.

“I had work to do, and you’re still too young.” Lightning lay back on her pillow and pulled Diana up to lie beside her. 

She and Fang had thought long and hard about which aspects of the other woman’s heritage they would share with their children. There were some things that would obviously have to be left behind. They could hardly teach the girls that everyone from Cocoon was evil and deserved to have a spear in them. 

According to Yun custom, Diana should also have made her first kill by now, most likely by slitting the throat of an animal that a more experienced hunter, namely Fang, had already disabled. Neither Lightning nor Fang wanted that for Diana. When the time finally came for Diana to learn how to hunt in the traditional manner, she would do it when she was old enough to really understand and appreciate what was happening. Both of them, however, had agreed that the girls should learn as much about surviving in the wild as possible.

“Remember, Diana, your mommy comes from the Yun clan. Part of being in the Yun clan is learning how to live in the wild, even when it’s very cold. You’re still too young for that kind of training, but in a few years, your mommy will teach you everything you need to know.”

“I guess.” Diana frowned. “But does that mean Averia doesn’t have any TV or stuff right now?”

“No.” Lightning laughed. “Part of living in the wild is learning how to survive without any electricity or magic because you won’t always have those things. It might even be snowing out there, so your sister has to learn how to keep warm and even make her own shelter. One day, you’ll learn how to do those things too.” 

“But if there’s no TV, I won’t be able to watch Gary.” Trust Diana to worry more about Gary than freezing to death.

Lightning smiled. “That’s right.”

“That sounds bad.” Diana huffed. “I don’t like the wild.”

“Yes, you do.” Lightning ignored her daughter’s glare. Diana wasn’t anywhere near big enough to be threatening. “Remember when we went camping? You weren’t complaining about no TV then.”

“Because camping was awesome. We went fishing. We saw chocobos. And there was lots of other cool stuff to do. I even caught a sea monster.”

The sea monster in question was a foot-long fish that Diana had caught. In the manner of most fishermen, Diana had spent the time since the camping trip steadily inflating the size of her catch until it was an aquatic behemoth ten times the size of a house that she’d only captured after an epic battle spanning fifteen hours. What scared Lightning was the fact that Diana and Vanille were completely consistent in describing the make-believe details of the catch. Was it a game of theirs or a shared hallucination? It was likely a bit of both.

Lightning yawned. It was getting late, even for her, and it was hard to stay awake with Diana next to her. Her daughter was too cuddly for her own good.

“Can you tell me a story, mom?” Diana swallowed a yawn of her own. She climbed on top of Lightning and settled her head on her chest. Diana’s small frame moved in time to each of Lightning’s breaths. 

“A story?” Lightning patted Diana on the back. She was too tired to really think of a story, and she didn’t want to get up to find a storybook. But there was a story she could tell although she’d have to change a few of the details. 

“Please,” Diana insisted. “It’s the weekend tomorrow, so I don’t have school, and… and look.” She pointed at the plush toys. “I think Mr Snaggles and Mr Gorgy Sharp Tooth want another story too.” 

“I suppose I can tell you another story – and it would be a shame to say no to those two.” 

“Will it have magic in it? And how about chocobos? Oh, and could it have a dragon in it too?”

“It will definitely have magic in it, and there will be at least one chocobo. I’m not sure about a dragon though.” Lightning smiled. “But I think you’ll like it.”

“I always like your stories.” Diana looked up at Lightning and frowned. “Except for the one about the girl who liked doing her homework and never asked for candy. That story was lame.”

Lightning winced. That particular story – a tale about a girl who was suspiciously similar to Diana but loved doing her homework and never asked for candy – had not been well received at all. Then Fang had found out about it and told a story of her own – one about a wife who was suspiciously similar to Lightning but never went to work and instead spent all day in bed with her spouse.

“This is a story about two sisters that loved each other very much.”

“Cool.” Diana sat up on Lightning’s stomach and waved her arms around. “Is it about two awesome sisters except the younger one is a little bit more awesome and one days ends up being way taller and –”

“Diana,” Lightning said. “Let me tell the story.” She smiled. It was obvious how Diana wanted things to turn out. Sometimes, Lightning wondered if Diana would consider her entire life a success so long as she ended up taller than her sister. If that ever did happen, Diana would probably gloat for years about it. “But, yes, the two sisters are pretty awesome although the younger sister doesn’t end up being taller.”

“Yes, I do!” Diana covered her mouth with her hands. “Oops. I mean… yes, she does.”

“Anyway,” Lightning said. “The story takes place a long, long time ago in a faraway kingdom. The kingdom was very far to the north where it was very cold. Because of that, they called it Iceland. But even though it was cold, they still had spring and summer, only they were shorter and cooler than here.”

“Iceland is a cool name.” Diana snuggled back up to Lightning. “I bet they had heaps of ice.”

“Oh, they did – during winter. Iceland was a peaceful and prosperous kingdom, and it’s king and queen had two daughters. The older daughter was named Levina, and the younger daughter was named Soraya. Although they weren’t the same age – Levina was three years older – they were the very best of friends.”

“Like me and Averia!” Diana folded her arms over her chest. “Except for when she won’t share her candy.”

“It’s her candy – she doesn’t have to share all of it, and you don’t always share your candy either.”

“But she’s already tall.” Diana nodded sagely. “I need more candy so I can get bigger.”

“Candy won’t help you grow taller.” Lightning smiled. “That’s what milk is for. Anyway, Levina was special. She had magic powers. She could make things colder. She could even make snow and ice. Although some people might have been afraid of Levina’s magic, Soraya loved it. She thought it was the best thing ever, and she loved it when Levina made lots of snow for them to play in.”

“That sounds awesome.” Diana’s eyes were wide. “If I could do that, I’d never lose to Aunt Vanille in a snowball fight.” She gestured wildly. “I’d be like, take this, Aunt Vanille! And pow! I’d get her with a million snowballs, and she’d have to surrender to my awesomeness.”

Lightning raised one eyebrow. Diana plus Vanille meant trouble every time. “One day, Soraya woke her sister up extra early so they could fill one of their castle’s rooms with snow. For a while they had a lot of fun. They made snowmen and snow castles and snow everything. With Levina’s magic, they could do anything. 

“But then something bad happened. Soraya got so excited playing with all the ice and snow that she forgot how dangerous it could be. She slipped, and Levina tried to use her magic to save her from falling. But even though she saved Soraya from falling, she hit her sister with some of her magic.”

Diana wasn’t smiling anymore. Instead, she was leaning forward, intent on every word. “Oh no! What happened?”

“Luckily, Soraya wasn’t killed, but her parents didn’t know how to undo Levina’s magic, so they took her far away to a secret valley filled with trolls.”

“Did they get eaten?” Diana was horrified. “Did they?”

“No. These were good trolls, the kind that help people. The trolls cured Soraya and took away her memories of what had happened. Then they warned the king and queen that Levina needed to learn how to control her powers. The king and queen promised to help Levina learn, but they were also scared. If Levina’s magic could freeze the rooms in the castle, then maybe one day it would strong enough to freeze rivers and lakes. And if it could make snow, then maybe one day it could make blizzards. And if it could freeze one person… maybe one day it could freeze an entire army.”

“That sounds horrible! But Levina wouldn’t do those things, right? She was nice, wasn’t she?”

“Yes, she was. In fact, Levina was just a scared little girl. But she was strong too. She promised to learn how to control her powers so that she would never hurt her sister again. But Levina was so worried about hurting her sister that she locked herself away and wouldn’t play with her anymore.”

“That’s so sad.” Diana sniffled. “This better not be a sad story, mom!” She paused. “But if Soraya didn’t remember, then wouldn’t she think her sister didn’t like her?” Diana seemed to be having trouble wrapping her head around that concept, and Lightning’s couldn’t blame her. At no point had Diana ever thought that Averia didn’t like her. Sure, they got annoyed with each other sometimes, but that didn’t meant they didn’t like each other.

“That’s right. Soraya started worrying that her sister didn’t like her anymore. But Soraya loved her sister so much that no matter how many times her sister sent her away, she kept coming back, hoping that would day her sister would be her friend again. Then, when the princesses were still very young, something even worse happened – their parents were on a ship when a big storm came and sank the ship.”

“No!” Diana grabbed Lightning. “Mom, this is a super sad story. You have to make it happier or something.” She clutched onto Lightning tightly. 

Lightning patted Diana on the back. She could understand why Diana was upset. But she wasn’t going anywhere and neither was Fang. And anyone who even thought of harming her family was in for one heck of a fight. “I promise it will have a happy ending, Diana. With both of their parents gone, Levina and Soraya were on their own. Levina knew that one day she would become queen, and she would have to protect not only her sister but also all of Iceland as well. So instead of just learning how to hide her magic, Levina started learning how to use it for other things. She learned how to use it to fight.”

Diana’s lip trembled. “That’s so sad. She just wanted to make snowmen and do nice things.”

“That’s right. But even though she only wanted to do nice things, Levina wanted to protect her sister even more because she knew that bad people might come and hurt them or their kingdom. But because of how much training she had to do, she never had any time to speak or even see her sister.

“Finally, the day came when Levina was old enough to become queen. She opened the gates of her castle, which had been shut for years, and invited guests from all over her kingdom and from all the other kingdoms nearby. She wanted to show them that she was good enough to be queen.

“At first everything went well. There was good food and drink and even dancing. But, unfortunately, not all the guests were friendly. Some of them had come with an evil plan to take over Iceland.”

“Oh no!” Diana reached for her plush toys. “What happened then?”

“The evil guests attacked Levina, and she was forced to use her powers. It was the first time since she lost her memories that Soraya had seen her sister’s magic, and she screamed. When she heard her sister scream, Levina was sure that Soraya hated her, so she ran away. Levina was so upset that she lost control of her powers and froze everything around her. Levina’s magic sent Iceland into the coldest winter that it had ever seen.

“But Soraya hadn’t screamed because she was scared of her sister – she had screamed because she was so shocked at getting her memories back. She still loved her sister, so she ran after her.”

“But how, mom? Wasn’t everything frozen?”

“It was, but Soraya loved her sister so much that she had to try anyway. But it was hard, and she didn’t’ have magic like her sister, so she fell very far behind. She even got lost as she tried to follow her sister up a mountain. She might even have frozen to death, but she was lucky enough to meet a kind, old man and an ice harvester named Tuhin.”

“An ice harvester?” Diana giggled. “But everything was frozen.”

“That’s right – there wouldn’t be much work for Tuhin to do if everything remained frozen. Soraya told the kind, old man and Tuhin her story. The old man let her borrow a special mountain chocobo named Cheep who could run right through the thick snow.”

“Cool. I wish I had a chocobo who could do that.” Diana rubbed her cheek. “Maybe I could ask Chirpy to try. I bet he could run through snow if he wanted.”

“Tuhin and Soraya rode Cheep up the mountain and ran into Mog, a magical snowman that Levina had created with her magic. Mog was worried about Levina, and he could see how much Soraya loved her, so he agreed to show them to the ice castle that Levina had created on top of the mountain.

“When they got there, Soraya begged her sister to come back with her. But Levina was still scared – she hadn’t forgotten how she’d hurt Soraya when they were younger, and she never wanted to do that again. She also so how close Soraya and Tuhin had grown during their journey up the mountain, and she was afraid that they had fallen in love.”

“Was she afraid that nobody would love her anymore?” Diana asked quietly.

“A little bit. So she tried to push Soraya away but ended up hitting her with her magic. When she saw that, Levina knew she had to get Soraya away from her before she accidentally hurt her even worse. To do that, Levina created a giant knight made of white ice, which drove them away.”

“A knight made of white ice? That sounds kind of like Odin.” Diana hugged Mr Snaggles. “But a dragon made of ice would have been cooler.”

Lightning sighed. Honestly, did both Averia and Diana have to like Bahamut more than Odin? Couldn’t one of her children have preferred her Eidolon to Fang’s?

“I guess it does sound a little bit like Odin. Running away from the ice knight, Tuhin noticed that Soraya was slowly freezing. He took her to the trolls, and they told him that because Levina’s magic had struck Soraya’s heart, she was going to freeze unless an act of true love could save her.”

“Why is it always true love?” Diana made a face. “I bet ninjas could have saved her. And she would have been fine if they had a dragon. A dragon could have warmed her up.” Diana winced. “Or maybe not a dragon – a dragon probably would have burned her.”

“Probably.” Lightning patted Diana on the back. “Although Levina had sent her sister and Tuhin away, she felt bad about what she’d done, so she left her ice castle to go find them. But along the way, she was ambushed by Anders, the evil councilman that had once served her father. You see, he had promised to help the kings of some of Iceland’s enemies capture her if they made him ruler of Iceland instead of her.

“Anders knew how much Levina loved her sister, so he said lots of mean things to her. He told her that she had killed her sister, that she was a monster, and that no one could ever love someone like her.”

“He sounds mean.” Diana growled. “I hope she punches him in the face!”

“Levina was so sad about what he said that her magic stopped working. Anders was getting ready to kill her when Soraya and Tuhin came. When Soraya saw what was happening, she threw herself between Anders and her sister. Instead, of hitting Levina with his sword, Anders hit Soraya, who turned into ice just as his sword hit.”

“No!” Diana grabbed Lightning’s arm. “That’s not how it ends, is it? Soraya has to be okay!”

“The story isn’t finished yet.” Lightning soothed Diana. “Anders was thrown back when his sword struck Soraya. He hit his head on the ground and was knocked unconscious. Levina began to cry when she realised what had happened to her sister, but just as she was about to lose hope, Soraya came back to life.”

“Yay!”

“You see, by sacrificing herself for her sister, Soraya had done something out of true love, which was enough to save her from her sister’s magic. Levina was so happy to see her sister alive again, and she realised something very important. Love was the key to controlling her magic. The reason she’d had so much trouble controlling it was because she’d cut herself off from the person that loved her most. 

“Levina finally stopped the horrible winter that had fallen over Iceland because of her magic. Anders was sent to prison for trying to overthrow her, and she got rid of all the people who had tried to help him, warning them that she would use her magic to fight them if they ever came back. From that day onward, she ruled Iceland wisely and well, and everyone lived happily ever after.”

“Cool.” Diana yawned. “But I still think that ninjas should have helped. Maybe ice ninjas.” She lay down on top of Lightning and went back to using her chest for a pillow. “That was a good story, mom.”

“I’m glad you liked it.” Lightning sighed. “Remember, it’s all about not giving up on people even if sometimes they do things that annoy you.”

“Like when Averia doesn’t share her candy with me.”

Lightning chuckled. “Or when you don’t pick up your toys and I trip on them, or you argue about eating your vegetables, or –”

“Mom!”

“But all of that doesn’t mean I love you any less.” Lightning wrapped her arms around Diana. “No matter what, you’ll always be my daughter, and I’ll always do my best to protect you, and I want you and Averia to always do you best to look after and protect each other.”

“We will, mom.” Diana tried to wrap her arms around Lightning. “Even if she is a grouch sometimes.”

“Diana…”

“She is, mom.” Diana giggled. “But I love her anyway. Good night, mom.” 

“Good night, Diana.”

Diana closed her eyes as Lightning turned off the lamp on her bedside table. “You’re warm, mom.”

“So are you.” Lightning found herself slipping off into sleep, the small, familiar weight of Diana held against her. The last thing she felt was some of Diana’s hair poking her in the chin. No wonder Averia always complained about it. 

X X X

“Mom! Mom! Wake up, it’s snowing!”

Lightning covered her ears and curled up into a ball as Diana jumped up and down on the bed before somehow managing to drag her off the bed, across the floor, and over to the window. There was no way someone as small as Diana should be able to do that. Then again the thought of fun had given Diana superhuman strength in the past – like the time she’d dragged both Fang and Lightning to the park last autumn so that she could jump in all the leaves.

“Look, mom! Look!”

Rubbing at her eyes, Lightning pulled herself up off the floor and looked out the window. Her eyes widened. A thick carpet of snow had fallen overnight. Their front lawn had transformed into a winter wonderland. 

“It’s just like Iceland, mom!” Diana had already changed out of her pyjamas into her winter clothes. “Let’s go out and play!”

Lightning threw on some warmer clothing and then followed Diana outside as the little girl almost tore the front door off its hinges in her haste to get outside. With a cry of delight, Diana threw herself headlong into the snow, flailing her arms and legs. Her happy shouts turned into a shriek as some of the snow slid down the back of her shirt.

“Cold!”

“Well, it is snow.” Lightning helped Diana back onto her feet. Her daughter grinned. “What do you want to do?”

“Do you want to make a snowman?” Diana had the most hopeful look on her face.

“I wouldn’t mind.” 

“Awesome.”

Five minutes later, Lightning was forced to admit that her snowman-making skills were sorely lacking. Simply put, she was terrible. Diana, however, was incredibly good for a six-year-old. In fact most people would probably have gotten their snowmen mixed up, attributing the good one to Lightning and the weird-looking one to Diana.

“You’re not very good at this, mom.” Diana tilted her head to one side as she regarded Lightning’s snowman with an expression somewhere between pity and dismay. Then she smiled. “But that’s okay. I’ll help you. We can work together to make a really big snowman. You can gather all the snow and then lift me up so I can do the rest.”

It was kind of humiliating being outdone by a six-year-old, but at least that six-year-old was her daughter. And Diana did have a point. Due to her short stature, her snowman was more of a snow-dwarf. Together, they could make an appropriately large – and appropriately well-shaped – snowman.

When they were finally done, the two of them stood in front of a scarily accurate snow-Lightning and an almost equally scary snow-Diana. The only major flaw that Lightning could see was that the snow-Diana was a good six inches taller than the original. 

“We’re done.” Diana nodded firmly. “And they’re exactly the same as we are.” Lightning’s lips twitched. Diana was standing right next to the snow replica of herself. The girl’s eyes widened, and she folded her arms over her chest. “I said, they’re exactly the same as we are.”

“Of course they are.” Lightning grinned. Diana hadn’t noticed it yet, but a familiar trio were ambling down the sidewalk toward them: Averia, Fang, and Vanille. “You might want to look over there, Diana.”

“Why? What is it? Oh!”

Lightning chuckled as the front gate swung open. Fang was the first one through followed by Vanille – and Diana ran past both of them to tackle Averia to the ground. The older girl gave a squawk of outrage that was quickly muffled by several inches of snow.

“You’re back!” Diana had ended up sitting on Averia’s back.

“Yes, now get off me.” Averia squirmed out from under Diana and scowled. Her face was covered in snow. “So… did you miss me?”

“No!” Diana scowled. Averia raised one eyebrow. Diana’s scowl deepened. Averia tapped her foot. “Okay, fine… maybe a little bit.” Diana grabbed Averia and dragged her over to the snow people she and Lightning had made. “Look what we made. And mom also told me this awesome story about two sisters and…”

Lightning was only half listening as Diana gave a heavily abridged – and heavily edited – account of her story that somehow twisted the moral of the tale into the importance of older sisters always sharing their candy with their younger sisters. Averia weathered the storm with her usual expression of faint amusement and exasperation. 

“So, how did it go?” Lightning asked, pulling Fang in for a quick kiss as Vanille went over to talk to Diana.

“It went well. Averia’s a natural although I guess that makes sense considering who her parents are.” Fang smiled. “I have to admit, I was a little worried when the snow started to come down, but she did everything I taught her. We even managed to snag a few rabbits.”

“Just don’t tell Diana that.” Lightning let Fang pull her into her arms. “She’ll claim you’re some kind of monster for hurting the cute, little bunny rabbits.”

“Averia didn’t mind.” Fang leaned down and whispered into Lighting’s ear. “She quite liked the taste of rabbit stew.”

“You two are horrible.” Lightning glanced up as Vanille knelt down to take a closer look at the snowmen that she and Diana had made. Diana grabbed a handful of snow and crept behind Vanille. As the redhead was about to stand, Diana shoved a handful of snow down her back.

Vanille shrieked and rounded on Diana. The chase was on. Unfortunately for Diana, she wasn’t about to outrun Vanille through the snow. In almost no time at all, Vanille had Diana tucked underneath one arm as she applied a very thorough hair-ruffling to the mischievous youngster.

“Fang,” Vanille said with utmost seriousness. “I demand vengeance. As your little sister, I am asking you to take revenge against Diana for me.” Vanille tickled Diana. “I would prefer something horribly bloody, but I’ll settle for something less fatal, like handing all of her candy to me.”

“You can’t do that!” Diana thrashed. “You can’t!”

“Vanille, are you seriously asking my to take revenge against my own daughter?”

“Of course I am. And while she is your daughter, I’ve been your sister longer than she’s been your daughter, so I totally have dibs on you for revenge purposes.”

“Is that how it works?”

“Yep.”

“I see.” Fang eased Diana out of Vanille’s arms. Then she picked up two handfuls of snow and dumped one over Vanille and one over Diana. “There, that should make you two even now.”

“You put snow on me, Fang.”

“You put snow on me, mommy.”

Vanille and Diana looked at each other. A spark of understanding flashed between the redhead and her loyal minion. 

“Get her!” Vanille shouted.

Vanille went right for Fang’s legs as Diana jumped at her middle. Fang flopped into the snow.

“Prepare to die, Fang!” Vanille was shovelling snow onto Fang as fast as she could.

“Eat snow, mommy!”

“Averia,” Fang said. “Help your mommy.”

Averia’s response was to half-heartedly lob some snow in the general direction of Diana and Vanille.

“Traitor!” Fang reached out to Lightning with one hand. “Some help here?”

“I suppose.” Lightning’s lips twitched. “Or maybe not.”

After several minutes of flailing around in the snow, Fang and Vanille retreated to the porch for some hot chocolate with Lightning. In a bid to reclaim a victory of sorts after being utterly mauled in the snow fight, Fang stole Vanille’s marshmallows. She would have stolen Lightning’s as well but one look at the pink-haired woman convinced her otherwise. Nobody touched Lightning Farrron’s marshmallows and lived.

As they savoured the hot chocolate, Lightning reflected on the story she’d told Diana. There was a part of her that still wondered what she would have turned out like if she hadn’t been forced to grow up so fast, if she hadn’t joined the Guardian Corps and turned herself into a soldier. But it was only a small part. In the end, things had worked out. Serah hadn’t given up on her, they’d beaten the bad guys, and they’d both ended up with their happily ever afters, Serah with Snow and Lightning with Fang.

She hoped that Averia and Diana would never have to go through what she and Serah had. But looking at them now, she had a feeling they never would. Averia wasn’t nearly as closed off as Lightning had been after her parents died even if she could be grumpy. And Diana was too much a force of nature to ever let her sister push her away. And of course, Lightning and Fang would be there every step of the way to watch over them – and so would the others. After all, Vanille couldn’t let anything happen to her favourite minion, now could she?

“What do you want to do now?” Averia asked. She and Diana had just finished poking all of the snow out of the lower branches of the big tree in the front yard.

“Do you want to build a snowman?”

“Sure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off of this.
> 
> This chapter has been a long time coming – although that’s the nature of the beast with this story, which is very much episodic in nature (even more so than Ordinary Heroes). In any case, it is nice to add another chapter and to go back to the girls’ childhood after spending quite a few chapters elsewhere in the future.
> 
> This chapter is a companion, of sorts, to Chapter 3 of Ordinary Heroes. But rather than having Lightning and Averia, it features Lightning and Diana. Perhaps it’s a little strange, but I’ve found that the chapters focusing on Lightning with the children are amongst the “softest”. I guess it’s because that’s the side of Lightning that the kids bring out. Serah might have seen it before too, but Serah and Lightning’s relationship was always kind of a mess since Lightning had to act as her sister and her mother (and the two roles don’t really fit well together at all for the Farron siblings).
> 
> Lightning’s story is heavily based on Disney’s Frozen (which I don’t own either). Seriously, Frozen could almost be one big metaphor for how Lightning and Serah’s relationship fell apart (the ice magic could be viewed as symbolism for Lightning’s transformation into a soldier). That said, I did change the story up a bit to make things a little more Lightning-specific. 
> 
> As you know, I have a thing for choosing names. The names in this chapter are no different. Levina is a name of Latin origin meaning “lightning bolt” which is a reference to Lightning (since she plays the Lightning-like character in the story). Soraya is a Persian name meaning “princess” (and Serah’s name means princess). Tuhin is an Arabic name meaning “Snow” since Tuhin plays the part of Snow, essentially, in the story (note how poorly Levina takes it when she thinks that Soraya and Tuhin are in love). Anders is a reference to Barthandelus who poses as a wise and noble Primarch – Barthandelus’s name comes from Baldanders, a mythological figure.
> 
> And yes, Sazh was the old man and Cheep is basically Chirpy (the snow version).
> 
> Finally, I’d like to mention that I’m running a promotion for my original fiction. This Saturday 18th January, _The Last Huntress_ will be available on Amazon for free (you can find a link to my original fiction in my profile). Give it a try if you're interested.
> 
> As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


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